Did Anybody See That?
by Cke1st
Summary: If one nameless dragon had moved a little bit faster at the beginning of the movie, Hiccup's life would have turned out very, very differently. Rated T for some adult themes; the language is all K. Hiccstrid.
1. Chapter 1

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 1

A/N I love speculating on the moments in timing that affect a story line. Take one detail, move it ahead or back a few seconds; take one action, move it up or down a few inches; and figure out what major changes might follow from that one tiny alteration. In this case, what if one nameless dragon had moved a little bit faster in the beginning of the movie?

**o**

The dragons came late that night. They usually struck at midnight; this raid started a few hours before sunrise. It made no real difference to the villagers of Berk. They fought back with all the ferocity they could muster, desperately trying to keep the huge reptiles from flying off with the food they needed to get through the winter. The dragons had their own priorities, and caring about hungry Vikings was very low on their list.

Amidst the chaos of the raid and the defenses, one thin young man ran through the streets with something that looked like a covered wheelbarrow. Aside from a few shouts of "What are you doin'?" and "Get back inside!" no one paid him any heed. He was accustomed to that. He ran to the edge of the cliffs and opened the cover of his invention, which unfolded into a sophisticated-looking bola thrower. He cocked it and stared into the night sky. "Come on! Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at!"

Hiccup's intended target was the elusive, almost-mythical Night Fury that had just shot out two of his village's catapult defenses, and was probably aiming for a third. What he didn't know was that there was another dragon very close by. A Monstrous Nightmare had just climbed the tower of one of those catapults, exchanged blows with Stoick the Vast there, and jumped away to safety when it heard the Night Fury beginning its dive. That catapult had been the first to fall. The huge dragon had landed on the side of the cliff and was climbing upwards to get back into the battle.

Hiccup heard a roar from out of the blackness, saw a moving shadow that was darker than night, and squinted through his sighting loop. He heard the rising whistle of a diving Night Fury, saw a quick glimpse of the monster as it passed in front of the exploding catapult, and fired.

At that moment, the Monstrous Nightmare poked its head over the cliff edge. If it had taken five seconds longer to climb the cliff, Hiccup's shot would have hit the Night Fury dead-on, and no one knows what might have happened after that. But the Nightmare got in the way, and the heavy bola meant for the most elusive dragon hit the biggest one instead.

Hiccup took one look at that huge head, screamed, and ran. His scream caught the ear of Stoick, the chief, who had just thrown a net onto a pack of Nadders and was trying to keep them on the ground without flaming. He saw his son's running silhouette up on the cliffs, groaned in frustration, and turned the task over to other Vikings. "Do _not_ let them escape!" he ordered. He had to rescue his son. Again.

Hiccup had run nearly fifty yards when he looked back for a moment. He was not being followed! The Nightmare just stayed where it was. No pursuit. No flame. What had happened? No clue. He still didn't know what he'd done when his father came pounding up the path.

Stoick took in the scene at a glance. He knew a downed dragon when he saw one, and _this_ dragon was down for the count! Two of the ropes had wrapped around the monster's mouth, keeping it from breathing fire; one rope had no ball on the end, but it didn't seem to matter. The other rope had snarled its left wing and left hind-leg together, leaving it incapable of flying or walking. Whoever did this, he could not have fired a more perfect shot if he'd guided each rope by hand.

Stoick gestured at the dragon. "Who did this?"

Hiccup figured he must have done something wrong, as usual. He hung his head. "I did this."

"WHAT?" bellowed Stoick. "You? _You_ took down a Monstrous Nightmare?"

"Well, uhh, yeah, I did," Hiccup stammered. "I mean, my invention did." He was starting to wonder if he might have done a good thing after all, but with his father roaring at full volume, it was best to not say too much too soon.

Stoick looked at the helpless dragon again, rested his hands on his hips, and began to laugh. He laughed as the rest of the dragons finished their raid and flew away with whatever prey they could find. He laughed as the village finished putting out its fires, and as people gathered to find out what was so funny. He laughed in a way that the village hadn't heard since before his wife died. He laughed until he almost couldn't breathe.

At last, he stopped. "Everyone!" he bellowed. "Everyone, gather 'round and see what my son has done!" That got action. They all knew that, every time Hiccup stepped outside, disaster fell. Whatever he'd done this time, it would probably take days to clean up his mess. The only question was how many people had gotten hurt as a result.

But when the Vikings gathered on the cliffs, they found only Stoick, Hiccup, and an immobilized Monstrous Nightmare, helpless for the slaughter. Shocked whispers went through the crowd as Stoick nudged a reluctant Hiccup into the center of the group.

"Look at it!" he roared. "The Monstrous Nightmare, biggest and fiercest of all the dragons! Only the best Vikings go after those! And who got one tonight?" He looked around the crowd; no one answered, because the only possible answer was too unlikely to even consider. "Who got this one? _My son._" He rested a hand on Hiccup's shoulder, almost buckling the boy's knees. His face took on a kindly expression that Hiccup had not seen in many years. It began to sink in – after all of Hiccup's uncounted humiliating failures, after all his inventions that failed and devices that misfired, after all the misfortunes and accidents and calamities, he had finally, inadvertently done something _right_.

"I almost couldn't believe it when I saw it," Stoick went on. "After all these years of the _worst_ Viking Berk has ever seen – Odin, it was rough! – but you can't argue with results. Look at the size of those results! And no one is more surprised, or more proud, than I am. Tonight, my son has become a Viking! Tonight, he has become one of _us!_" The villagers all cheered. Some of those cheers might have been relief that Hiccup hadn't broken anything tonight, but they were no less loud or heartfelt for that.

Off to the side, there were five who didn't cheer. They had spent the night fighting the fires the dragons started – necessary and important work, well-suited for teens who weren't warriors yet, but not very glamorous. They all wanted a piece of the real action. They all wanted to take up their weapons and kill dragons themselves. They were scheduled to begin Dragon Training in a few days, and compete for the ultimate prize, the right to kill a Monstrous Nightmare in front of the whole village.

And now, before their eyes, their hopes and dreams had been devalued to nothing, because someone else had done it first. Some other teen had brought down a Monstrous Nightmare before they even had a chance to try. And what mighty warrior-in-training had _dared_ to step outside his role in the town, and taken it upon himself to even _attempt_ such a mighty deed?

Hiccup.

Hiccup the Useless.

It was _so_ unfair.

Fishlegs looked glum. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were headed for another shoving match for some unknown, irrelevant reason; probably they just wanted to get their minds off of Hiccup. Snotlout was debating whether to mock his cousin, or go for some residual glory by reminding everyone that they were related. And Astrid, who was never far from her double-bladed axe even when on fire patrol, was looking for something substantial to throw it at. Nothing else would burn off the resentment that smoldered in her eyes. Maybe a burned-out building would do; no one would care if the scorched timbers had a few axe marks in them.

But in the center of the ring of cheering Vikings, Hiccup was daring to let himself smile. He had done it! He had finally proven himself; he had won the town's acceptance; and he had made his father proud. Surely, when he was old, he would look back on this night as one of the highlights of his life. No more Hiccup the Useless! Now, he was Hiccup the Dragon Fighter!

He took a good long look at his victim. It truly was huge. It towered over him, leaning to one side where its leg and wing were tied together. It tried to shake its head, but the ropes around its mouth were tightly connected to the rope around its legs. All it could do was look at him.

And it looked _scared_.

Hiccup looked into its huge eyes for few seconds, then turned away. He'd dreamed of taking down vicious, snarling, flaming dragons in the heat of battle. Killing a frightened animal that was tied up and helpless... that wasn't the same thing at all. He tried to tell himself that the glory would be the same; after all, he'd brought it down in the heat of battle.

But he couldn't get those eyes out of his mind. The Monstrous Nightmare, the biggest and fiercest of all dragons, knew was about to happen to it, and it was terrified.

_Just like I would be, if I were tied up in my enemy's camp,_ Hiccup thought. He began to walk away. He'd brought down the dragon; he'd had enough glory for one night.

"Oh, no," his father chuckled. A huge hand spun him around and pointed him back at the dragon. "Finish what you started, son. Take that short sword of yours –" everyone knew it was just a dagger, because a dagger was the biggest weapon he could actually handle "– and slay your dragon! You earned this moment! Make us all proud!"

Hiccup looked up at the dragon's eyes again. _They gave you a good name,_ he thought. _This really __is__ a nightmare. For both of us._


	2. Chapter 2

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 2

No one knew at the time, and no one ever did know, but Hiccup's bola-throwing machine was even more amazing than anyone realized. He had actually brought down _two_ dragons with his one shot that night.

When his machine fired, one of the weights on the end of the bola came untied from its rope. It passed just over the shoulder of the Monstrous Nightmare and connected with its intended target, the Night Fury. The heavy metal ball hit the black dragon hard in the side of the head near its eye, stunning it. The ball splashed into the sea and was never found. The dragon fell senseless into the forest on the north end of Berk Island, near Raven Point. But because it was a black dragon against a black night sky, and because everyone was fixated on the Monstrous Nightmare, no one noticed.

Everyone was still fixated on the Monstrous Nightmare, and on the thin young man who was supposed to kill it. He had achieved his heart's desire, his lifetime dream, only to find that he didn't really want it. In fact, he really, really _didn't_ want it. But his father and the whole village were watching. He couldn't creep in the front door and escape out the back door this time.

He slowly walked toward his victim, trying not to look into those eyes. He drew his dagger, wishing it made a metallic ringing sound like the swords that the manly Vikings carried. That might steady his jangling nerves a little. The Nightmare saw the glint of moonlight on the steel and tried to pull away, but it was immobilized. He glanced up at it and made eye contact. Again, he saw how frightened the dragon was. Maybe that was his mistake. Or maybe he'd already decided to do something appallingly stupid, and that final eye contact only confirmed his decision.

Shouts of "Give it to him!" and "Finish the job!" reminded him that he had an audience. He heartily wished he didn't. The only consolation was that it was still dark; they couldn't clearly see what he was about to do. Maybe no one would know he'd done it on purpose. Oh, who was he kidding – half the village always assumed his mistakes were deliberate, no matter what he said.

He couldn't get those frightened dragon eyes out of his mind.

"All right, dragon!" he shouted. "This is it!" He held the dagger straight out in front of him with both hands, trying to keep those hands from shaking, as he stepped up next to the huge chest. "This is where it all ends! This is where you get what you deserve! You're done, dragon!" He was shouting to drown out the sound of his knife, as he sawed at the rope that immobilized the dragon's wing and leg. He didn't have much muscle to work with, but his blade was as sharp as a skilled smith's apprentice could make it. It took just a few seconds, and the rope fell away.

The dragon spun, spread its wings, and flew away before anyone could so much as move. Its mouth was still bound, but it could solve that problem at its leisure. When it turned, its tail hit Hiccup and knocked him flying, back toward the rest of the villagers. But now, he wasn't in the center of adoring, applauding fans. Now their faces were hard and questioning as they stared down at him.

Stoick grabbed his son by the front of his shirt, held him dangling a foot off the ground, and roared, "HOW did it get away?"

"I... I... I don't know, Dad. Maybe the rope broke?"

"Maybe? Well, did it or didn't it?" Stoick demanded.

"It didn't," Spitelout answered for him. He was holding the ends of the rope, which were obviously cut, not broken.

Hiccup looked up at his father's face and realized he'd stepped way, _way_ over the line this time.

The tribe held a simple hearing in the Mead Hall, with all the adult men present. Hiccup was charged with treason, for deliberately allowing the tribe's enemy to escape. Spitelout asked the chief's only son if the accusation against him was true.

"Yes," he said. Apparently, that was the end of the hearing. All that remained was the sentencing.

After a very long silence, Stoick spoke, without looking at the defendant. His voice was quiet and filled with hurt. "You've thrown your lot in with _them_. You're not a Viking. You're not my son." To Spitelout, he ordered, "Put him with the others!"

"The others?"

"The other traitors! Prepare a ship, and send him to Outcast Island in the morning. Lock him in the dragon training ring until then, with guards. Feed him leftover bread and water. Don't waste anything useful on him. He is no longer one of us." He turned away, unwilling to even look at the boy who had betrayed him and disappointed him for the last time.

Two large, angry Vikings frog-marched Hiccup out of the Hall and down to the training ring. They shoved him in, pulled the heavy portcullis down hard, and locked it. That was only rubbing salt in the wound – he could never lift that door even if it _wasn't_ locked.

He stood and stared at his surroundings. The stone walls were twelve feet high, surmounted with a cage of metal bars around the edges and a mesh of heavy chains in the middle. There was one exit, barred by that heavy timbered portcullis, and five big double doors in the opposite side of the ring. Behind those doors lurked the dragons that unwillingly served Berk, by teaching young Vikings how to fight them. He'd had dreams of getting into Dragon Training, of facing those dragons in the ring. Well, here he was. Hurray.

He walked in circles. Then he walked in circles the other way. Then he sat. Then he leaned against the wall. He tried talking to the guards through the portcullis, but they kept their backs to him; they had orders to ignore him. He walked in some more circles.

At lunch time, someone lowered a basket of hard bread and a small bucket of tepid water into the ring on ropes. He didn't have much of an appetite, and said so. "Suit yourself, traitor." The basket and bucket were taken up again.

_What else could I have done?_ he asked himself. _If I'd killed it, I'd feel even worse than I do now, and when the town called me a hero, I'd feel like a hypocrite. If I'd refused to kill it, someone else would have done it, and I'd be disgraced and feel guilty at the same time. As soon as I hit it, I was doomed._ He resolved, from now on, to be more careful what he wished for.

As the sun was setting, his five friends stuck their heads over the edge of the walls. Four of them just looked, shook their heads, and left, but Snotlout stayed behind.

"I don't know what you were thinking back there," he said, "but I ought to thank you. Now _I'm_ next in line to be the chief of this tribe. Enjoy your exile. I hear those Outcasts are a rough bunch!"

Hiccup turned away from him without comment, and after a few seconds, he heard his cousin leave. But his words remained behind. Those Outcasts _were_ a rough bunch. Someone like Hiccup probably wouldn't last a week in a society like that. Stoick may have called his punishment an exile, but in reality, it was a death sentence.

He contemplated opening one of the dragon's cages and getting it over with. But he wasn't sure he was strong enough to work the big handles. And he wasn't quite desperate enough for that, not yet. After some thought, he had a better idea.

At supper time, he was offered the same basket and bucket. This time, he forced himself to eat as much as he could, and stuffed the rest of the bread into the pockets of his vest. It might be a long time before he ate again. Now it was just a question of waiting.

Staying awake late into the night was the easy part; he was too keyed up to sleep, and the rough stone floor offered no place to be comfortable. The guards were relieved well before midnight. He recognized them, and knew they weren't the sharpest tools in the forge. He kept on pacing in circles, maintaining a steady, monotonous rhythm. Eventually, the guards grew drowsy; they were no night watchmen.

Once he was sure they were asleep, he climbed the timbers of the portcullis like a ladder, jumped, and caught the edge of the rocky rim. It took some scrambling, and he thought he might have awakened the guards, but he was able to climb through the bars and out of the ring.

His first priority was to find some more food for his journey. The fishing boats were almost never completely emptied; there would be a fish or two under the rowing benches if he looked. He quietly made his way down to the harbor, stuffed a pocket with small cod, and crept back up to the village.

Now where? His only idea was "anywhere but Outcast Island." If he were caught in the village again, they'd send him away without ceremony. So he turned his back on the town that had already turned its back on him, and headed for the wilderness on the north side of Berk Island. He had no plan for getting food, or shelter, or warmth when winter came. He might die as easily in the forest as among the Outcasts. But at least he'd have a small chance of making it. A small chance was better than no chance at all.

As he climbed the hill that led to the other half of the island, he looked back at the little village that was the only home he'd ever known.

_Bye, Dad. I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment to you; I guess a talking fishbone wasn't your style. Don't miss me too much. Lout, enjoy being the chief, but from what I've seen, it's not as much fun as you think. Ruff, Tuff, you'll be awesome warriors if you ever try fighting somebody besides each other. Legs, keep studying, but pull your nose out of the books now and then and enjoy life. Astrid... oh, gods, I'll never see Astrid again..._

If his spirits had begun to rise when he slipped out of the ring, they hit bottom by the time the town was finally out of sight.

Now he was really alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 3

The town met the news of Hiccup's escape with a collective shrug. One of the guards summed it up best when he said, "No one will miss that old nuisance." Maybe he'd gone into the wilderness, or maybe he was hiding in a storage shed somewhere. Maybe he'd starve, or freeze, or maybe some wild animal would maul him, or maybe he'd give up and accept his punishment.

No one really cared.

Hiccup walked slowly through the woods. He'd eaten the last of his bread crumbs for breakfast. He had nowhere to go; no one was waiting for him or looking for him. No one would be concerned if he was out late. If he got into trouble, he could expect no help. "Nothing has changed, except now it's official," he said out loud. He knew no one was listening to him. That part hadn't changed, either.

Food and shelter would be his first priorities. His father had taught him how to fish, and he could improvise some fishing gear easily; all he needed was a place where the fish were. Lighting a fire could be a problem. For shelter, maybe he could find a cave somewhere.

It would be like camping out! Like an adventure of some kind. Yeah, that's it. He was _this close_ to convincing himself it wasn't so bad.

Then the thought hit him between the eyes. _Not one person in the world cares if I live or die._

The tears started streaming down his cheeks, and he made no attempt to hold them back. All the pain and hurt and abuse he'd silently endured for all those years, all the rejections and the cruel comments, all the clever attempts that ended in disaster, all the times he'd tried to please his father and failed... he let them all out. It took a while. For a few minutes, he was actually glad to be all alone.

At last, he started moving again. It was mid-morning; he didn't have all day to get his new life started. The woods were quiet except for the occasional bird and the far-distant rumble of ocean waves on the shoreline. He rambled, not going in any particular direction, just following the path of least resistance.

Around noon, he thought he heard the sound of flowing water. That could be a good thing. He let his ears lead him through a maze of rocks and stepped into a hidden cove.

"This is perfect!" he said out loud. No one would ever find it by accident, the water looked like a good fishing spot, and the many rocks suggested there might be a cave or two nearby. He stepped into the cove, stretched, and took a deep breath of the fresh air.

A low growl warned him that he was not alone.

He looked slowly to his left. Something big, black, and very scary-looking was sitting on top of a large rock, watching him. Bat-like wings were furled on its back; its two-finned tail waved back and forth. It wasn't even close to the size of the Monstrous Nightmare, yet it conveyed a much greater sense of power and menace.

_It's a Night Fury. I am about to become very, very dead._

It rose, climbed down the face of the rock – and stumbled at the bottom and plowed its chin into the ground. How could such a graceful-looking creature make such a clumsy error? He stared at it. It stared back, or it tried to. Its two eyes wouldn't focus in the same direction; the right eye seemed to wander inward. It turned its head from side to side so each eye was on him for a few seconds.

_Is it injured?_ Hiccup wondered. _If it can't see straight, how can it fly? How can it hunt for food? It might be on its way to starving to death. Just like me. _That last part popped into his head unbidden. He shook his head, wishing he hadn't thought it. It's not like he had much in common with dragons.

Or did he?

He had no problem understanding the fear that the Monstrous Nightmare had shown. This dragon seemed more curious than anything else, and Hiccup certainly understood curiosity. And it was all by itself, just like him. It was sniffing in his general direction.

_He smells the fish in my pocket. He's hungry. He might do anything. This could get really bad, really fast._ He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the first fish he found. It was rank and slimy, but it was all he had. He held it out by the tail at arm's length. The dragon was immediately interested. It hesitantly stepped toward him, mouth open, showing a curious lack of –

_**CHOMP!**_

...teeth.

At the end of that day, Hiccup decided that _this_ was the day he'd look back on as one of the high points of his life. Somehow, he had worked out a truce with the most feared destroyer the Vikings had ever known. It wasn't merely an end to hostilities. When he got his jury-rigged fishing line into the water, Toothless (as he was calling the dragon) sat beside him like a fishing buddy, peering intently into the water, and accepting most of the fish as though they rightfully belonged to him. In exchange, Hiccup was able to broil his own fish on a burnt patch of ground that Toothless had flamed for him.

Hiccup found a small cave, where he spent the night. The dragon hung from a nearby tree branch.

The next few days went pretty much like the first. Hiccup realized that he wasn't going to starve to death, and that the Night Fury wasn't going to kill him either. The dragon was initially reluctant to let Hiccup touch him, but he finally got over that, after what could only be called a magical moment of understanding. Toothless had a hearty appetite, but there were plenty of fish in the cove, and Hiccup had nothing else to do.

So what should he do next?

Hiccup's nature was to be curious about things, and to find solutions to problems. It was only a matter of time before he started puzzling over Toothless' eye problem. Those eyes were beautiful and very expressive; it seemed a shame that they couldn't focus in the same direction. From watching Toothless' reactions to various objects as Hiccup held them up, he decided the dragon was seeing two of everything. That would definitely make it hard for him to fly, fight, or do much of anything.

The simple solution would be to cover one of his eyes. It would ruin his depth perception, but that seemed like the lesser of two evils. Hiccup wasn't sure what kind of depth perception he had now, with two eyes that weren't working together. But coming up with the answer was one thing. Making it happen was another thing entirely.

He tried covering an eye with one of his hands. No good; his hand was too small to cover that huge pale-green eye. He tried it with two hands. That worked, but with both hands occupied, he couldn't do anything else. He decided that Toothless needed some kind of rig on his head, with a flap that would fold down and cover the eye without touching it. He roughed out a design in his notebook, using a charred tree branch for a pencil. His leather-working skills were up to a task like that. All he needed was the leather and the tools, both of which he had exactly none of.

He was sure he could find enough scraps of unwanted leather outside the tanner's shack in town. He knew he could find the tools he needed in Gobber's smithy. He also knew that, if he were caught, he'd be summarily shipped off to Outcast Island, with _no_ chance of escape this time, and he would _never_ get another chance at freedom. That seemed like too much of a risk to take for a dragon.

He looked into those great green eyes... _What is it with dragons and their eyes? They're ruining my life!_

He chose an overcast night with a new moon, so he'd be as hard to see as possible. He waited until the watchman had passed, searched the area around the tanner for the scraps he needed, then sneaked into the smithy. He'd spent so much time there, he knew his way blindfolded. His little back room hadn't been touched; he wondered why for a moment. But it didn't matter. By the light of one small candle, he worked for hours until he was satisfied with his work. He had to wait in the dark for another half hour until the watchman passed by again; then he crept out of town and found his way back to the cove.

His device was simple; it looked like a huge retractable eye patch. A leather belt wrapped around the top of Toothless' head and buckled underneath. Attached to it was a concave leather disc that would flip down and cover the right eye without touching it; when it wasn't down, it lay back flat against the dragon's head. It was controlled by a thin metal rod and handle which Hiccup would hold in flight. Without that rod, the wind of Toothless' forward motion would flip the eye cover back and render it useless.

The first hard part was getting Toothless to wear it; the dragon turned that process into an hour-long game of keep-away before he finally let Hiccup buckle it on. The Night Fury quickly realized what it was for, and eagerly leaped into the air. But the wind pushed the eye cover back, his vision went double, and he thudded to the ground in confusion. The only way it would work was if Hiccup rode him in the air and actively held the eye cover in place.

Getting a dragon to allow a rider. _That_ was going to be the _really_ hard part.

_It might be hard for the rider, too,_ he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 4

It was autumn in Berk, which was a nice way of saying "the first three months of winter in Berk." Life was going smoothly for a change. The dragons had not come back, and neither did Hiccup. Without those two destructive forces, the town enjoyed a season of peace and productivity.

Five of the village's teens entered Dragon Training under Gobber's questionable tutelage. Astrid quickly emerged, not merely as the front-runner, but as the only one likely to succeed at all. Fishlegs was a fountain of useful information that did him absolutely no good in the ring. Snotlout was brave enough, but not nearly as competent as he thought he was. As for Ruffnut and Tuffnut, the training dragons weren't stupid; they quickly learned to leave the twins alone. Those two were more likely to take each other out than do the dragons any harm.

Late one night, the five of them were sitting around a campfire with their trainer, discussing this and that. It was Fishlegs who brought up the question, "Gobber, why did Hiccup do it?"

"Why are ye askin' me, lad? He never talked to me or anybody else about it."

"I figured, he was your apprentice. You probably knew him better than anybody else." They all noticed the unspoken indictment of Stoick's relationship with his son, but didn't comment on it.

Gobber looked thoughtful. "We all know he wanted to kill a dragon in the worst way. And 'the worst way' is usually how he went about it. But when he finally succeeded, an' then threw it all away... why he did that, I don't know."

"Did he say why at the hearing?" Astrid wondered.

The smith looked blank for a moment. "Now that ye mention it, they never asked 'im to explain 'imself at the hearing. They got their confession, they gave 'im his sentence, and that was that. It was almost as if they didn't want to let 'im talk. That _was_ a wee bit unusual, now that I think about it." The discussion moved on to other, more pleasant topics.

The next morning, after cooking and eating his breakfast, Hiccup set about convincing Toothless that riding on his back would be a good thing. It was not an easy sell. The dragon turned it into another long game of keep-away. It wasn't until lunch that Hiccup finally got onto the dragon's neck. He pushed his handle, and the eye cover dropped into place. He discovered that the belt was also in a convenient place for him to hang on. That might be a good idea if –

The dragon launched himself into the sky, and hanging onto the belt was a _very_ good idea.

As Toothless flapped hard and gained altitude, Hiccup noticed a huge change in the dragon. He wasn't just relieved to get out of the cove; he was happy to be flying. Joyous, even. Hiccup had spent so much time with Toothless on the ground, he hadn't thought of his reptilian companion as a creature of the air. But there was no question, Toothless was exhilarated to get off the ground, and his joy was contagious. Hiccup was soon whooping with delight at the sensations of flight. It helped to know that he was probably the first Viking ever to fly.

"Go, baby! Oh, this is great!" he shouted. "The wind in my hair, the ocean below us... you have to see this, bud! Here, take a look with both eyes!" He let the eye patch flip up. The sudden blast of wind hit Toothless' other eye, and it startled him. He tossed his head and slowed down. The laws of physics exacted their toll; Hiccup kept going, and dragon and rider parted company in mid-air.

"Ohh! Oh, no! Toothless, over here!" he screamed. The dragon saw two Hiccups and wanted to rescue both of them. He aimed between them, and passed right under his panic-stricken co-pilot.

"Slow down, bud! I'm right here!" Hiccup tried to turn himself head-down as he fell. He had to grab the head-belt, which was the only thing he could hang on to. Toothless tried to help, but his damaged eyesight held him back. At last, Hiccup got a finger on the belt, then a hand, then both hands. He pulled himself back into the riding position and lowered the eye-patch into place.

It might be too late. They were screaming almost straight down, and the only escape route was a labyrinth of rock arches and pillars right in front of them. Toothless could never navigate _that,_ not without depth perception. Hiccup realized that he had to be the dragon's eyes, supplying the depth perception that Toothless lacked, or they would both be splattered all over those rocks in seconds.

_Again with the dragons and their eyes! They're going to __kill__ me!_ Hiccup thought. _It's all or nothing now._

He threw his weight to the side as they entered the maze. Toothless took the cue and turned sharply. Too sharply; Hiccup leaned the other way. In moments, they figured out their rhythm together. Left! Right! Down! _Hard_ left! Both of them were completely trusting the other to respond perfectly, with no time to make decisions, zero margin for error, and both their lives at stake. It was terrifying, it was thrilling, it was _insanely_ fast, and somehow, it worked!

They shot into the clear air over the sea, leaving the last of the rocks behind them. Hiccup raised one hand in triumph (making sure to keep the eye-patch down with the other hand) and shouted in triumph. Toothless wore a matching grin.

The dragon glanced downward, and suddenly shot a fireball into the water. It raised a huge fountain of spray, which they flew through, soaking Hiccup to the skin. "Oh, come on!" he complained.

He stopped his complaint when he saw what the dragon had done. Toothless had seen a school of fish just below the surface. His fire shot had stunned them, and many of them were floating now. The Night Fury skimmed the sea and grabbed a big tuna with his front legs. "Yeah! We eat tonight!" Hiccup shouted. "Buddy, you are amazing."

They flew back to the cove. Hiccup built a fire, Toothless lit it, and they enjoyed a tasty, filling meal together. Afterward, as he leaned back against the dragon, Hiccup realized that he didn't feel like a criminal or an exile. He had food, he had shelter, and for the first time since his mother died, he had a real friend. In some ways, he was better off now than he had been in the village.

What he didn't realize was that, while he and his friend were learning to fly together, someone had been watching them from a distance.

She brought up the subject with her friends that night.

"It was probably a bird," Tuffnut said.

"I know what I saw!" Astrid exclaimed. "It was black, and it was _big_, way bigger than any bird. It was flying back and forth off Raven Point."

"I can't think of anything that's big and black that lives around here," Fishlegs pondered.

"I know what I saw," she repeated firmly, arms folded.

"Okay! Let's say you saw something," Snotlout said, looking for some way to gain favor with her. "What are you going to do?"

"Find out what it is, of course," she answered. "It might be a threat to the village."

"Uhhh... if it's a threat to the village, then it might be a threat to _us_ if we chase it," Ruffnut objected.

"But if it's just a bird, we'd look pretty stupid trying to chase it," her brother added.

"Fine!" Astrid snapped. "I'll check out the north side of the island tomorrow morning and see what I find. You guys can stay here and twiddle your thumbs." She glared at Snotlout to see what his decision would be. He looked at her, then at the twins, then at his hands.

"I think my thumbs are due for some twiddling," he said apologetically. She scowled and stalked off toward her home. _Fine, I'll do it myself._


	5. Chapter 5

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 5

Hiccup's next project was to find a bigger cave. He needed a place large enough for himself and a dragon. The coldest part of winter was coming, and both he and his friend would need shelter from the storms.

After some searching, he found the perfect place. It was a deep hollowed-out space between two big rocks, covered by a great tree whose roots ran down the sides of those rocks. Toothless could climb in and find room to turn around, and the opening was wide enough that Hiccup could build a fire there for warmth, and still have room to get in and out. He showed the place to Toothless, who explored it for a few moments and apparently found it acceptable.

His timing was good, too. Two days later, the first big snowstorm of the winter hit them. He had stored up some firewood in the cave, and he didn't need flint and steel when he had a dragon, so between their shared body heat and his fire in the cave mouth, they kept fairly warm. They had to venture out for food, but that didn't require much tramping through the snow. They just had to get far enough from the cave for Toothless to spread his wings; then they'd fly out to sea, find some open water, catch some fish, and fly back. That concluded their work for the day. If the weather was clear, they'd go flying for fun; if the snow was flying, they'd hide in the cave.

He spent the days telling Toothless all about his life. Exactly how much the dragon understood, he didn't know. But it felt good just to talk freely, without worrying about anyone having a negative reaction. He talked about past hurts and injustices; he talked about people he knew; he talked about his inventions, and the history of Berk. He spent some time talking about how they'd tried and convicted him, and he came to some unusual conclusions about that. Toothless was a good listener, at least. He couldn't remember the last time someone actually _listened_ to him.

He'd thought of some minor improvements he'd like to make on the dragon's head harness. He also needed to mend a small hole in one of his boots. But that would mean a return trip to the village, and his bootprints in the snow would give everything away. Projects like those would have to wait until spring. At least he felt like he might still be alive in the spring, which was more than he could have said a few weeks ago.

For a criminal on the run, he felt like he was doing pretty well.

Astrid's plan to investigate the north side of the island was put on hold by the storm. No one could go out for days, and when they finally could go out, the whole village had to help clear the snow off the fishing boats, the docks, and the ramps that led to the harbor. Not to mention digging out the dragon training ring so their lessons could continue. It took nearly a week before she found the time for her journey.

She followed the shore toward where she'd seen her mysterious flying creature. It was slow going through the snow; she couldn't see any holes that might be in the ground, so she had to take every step carefully. Every cove meant a detour inland.

As she rounded the third cove, she smelled burning wood. She checked the wind; it was blowing from the west as usual, so she couldn't be smelling anything from the town. Someone or something else had started a fire around here. To her way of thinking, that meant a large creature that could breathe fire. She brandished her axe and went extra-slow.

She glanced across to the other shore of the cove. There it was – a small fire near the mouth of a cave. It had to be man-made. Many footprints in the snow came out of the cave. Human boot prints were mixed with the tracks of some kind of very large animal. That made no sense! The tracks only went a few feet away from the cave, and then stopped. That made even _less_ sense! There was no evidence of a struggle. She tried to think of any possible scenario that might explain what she was seeing; nothing fit.

"Hello?" she called. The snowy landscape didn't return an echo. But she got an answer.

Almost the moment she called, a huge black scaly head jutted out of the cave, stark against the white snow. Two angry eyes quickly located her; a mouth full of jagged teeth snarled at her. The beast crept out of the cave, showing four legs and two bat-like wings. She had never seen anything like it, but she knew she didn't like it. She held her axe ready, her eyes wide.

They went even wider when Hiccup stepped out of the cave and stood next to the monster, resting one hand on it. "I heard it too, bud. It sounded like..." He looked where the dragon was staring and saw her. "Dat da-dah, we're dead."

Astrid found her voice. "One act of treason wasn't enough for you, Hiccup?"

"It's not what you think!" he shouted back.

She took a step back. "Astrid, _don't!_ Please, let me explain!" he called. She turned and ran. There was a strange dragon, nesting right here on Berk island. The chief had to know about this. He might want to know about the traitor, too.

She ran almost blindly, not trying to retrace her steps; she was bound to get back to the village if she just kept going. The snow wasn't so deep under the trees, but fallen branches threatened to trip her at every step. She jumped over one downed limb – and kept going up! Something had clutched the back of her shirt and lifted her off the ground. She had no leverage to swing her axe at anything. She tried not to scream as she saw the ground falling away beneath her, but even her courage had its limits.

The dragon that had grabbed her turned around and flew back to the cove. It dipped low and half-pushed, half-slung her into the cave. She scrambled to her feet, but the black thing had landed and blocked the exit before she could escape. Her axe came up; it bared its teeth and snarled viciously. Each waited for the other to make a move.

After a few seconds, Hiccup slid into the cave beside the dragon, and hesitantly stepped between them. "Whoa, whoa! Time out, everybody! Astrid, how about you put down your axe, and I'll put down my dragon, and we just talk?"

"I have _no_ interest in _anything_ you could say... traitor," she spat.

"Then make yourself comfortable," he replied. "I can't let you go running back to the village and tell them where I'm hiding. They'll chase me out of here, and I'm running out of places in this world that don't hate me."

"Do you think you can keep me here forever?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "I'm already wanted for treason. A little kidnapping can hardly make things worse." He held out one hand. "Please, Astrid."

Her angry scowl didn't change, but she slowly lowered her axe head to the floor of the cave. Hiccup turned to the dragon. "Toothless, it's okay, bud. She's a friend." The Night Fury was obviously not convinced. He lay down in the cave mouth, grumbling. Hiccup sat down a few feet from Astrid and gestured for her to sit as well. After a few seconds, she did. She glared at him; he fidgeted with his hands.

"Well?" she finally asked.

"I don't know what to say," he replied, not making eye contact. "You're the first person I've seen since I became a free man again. I didn't have any speeches ready."

"You call this freedom?" she cried, waving one arm around the cave. "You're living like an animal!"

"It's not so bad," he said. "I've got plenty of food, we stay warm enough at night, we keep each other company..."

" 'We'?" she exclaimed. "Company? You mean that... that _dragon_ thing? You make it sound like some kind of a _friend!_"

Now Hiccup made eye contact. "He _is_ a friend! We take care of each other, we rely on each other, and he actually _listens_ when I talk." He broke off for a moment. "I never had a friend like that before."

She stared at him. She knew he didn't have many close friends in the village, but was it _that_ bad, that he preferred the company of a _dragon?_ After a long pause, she asked, "Why did you do it?"

"You mean, let that other dragon go?" She nodded. He stared into her eyes, and she was struck by his intensity. "Astrid, I always had the same dreams you did – the same dreams every kid growing up in Berk has. I wanted to kill dragons in battle, make a name for myself, be famous... maybe make somebody notice me..." He turned away, reddening slightly. She realized what he meant, and turned a bit red herself.

"But when I looked in that dragon's eyes, he didn't look at me like a killer. He was scared to death. He was as scared as I was. I looked at him, and I saw myself."

"So you couldn't bring yourself to kill him?" she asked, a bit more softly than she'd intended.

"I _wouldn't_," he replied. "Call me fearful, call me weak, call me a traitor if that makes you feel better, but don't call me a bad person."

"To most Vikings, fearful and weak add up to a bad person," she commented.

"And that's why I was always such a terrible Viking," he finished. "I couldn't be a good Viking, but there wasn't anything else I could be, either. The only thing worse than that would be going to Outcast Island. In Berk, I had no place to fit in, but out there, I'd find a place. In a box."

She considered that. "You can't keep me here forever, you know," she said. "You're bound to fall asleep sometime."

"Toothless won't let you go," he replied. "But I don't want to hold you against your will, just like I don't want you to run back to... to my dad... and tell him where I am."

"Sounds like a problem with no solution," she said.

"I don't believe in those," he answered firmly. "Maybe I could buy your silence?"

"Buy my silence? With what – snowballs? Firewood? You've got _nothing!_ You're dreaming, Hiccup! Get your head out of the clouds."

He looked at her speculatively. "Actually, I was thinking of getting _your_ head _into_ the clouds."


	6. Chapter 6

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 6

"What are you talking about?" Astrid demanded.

"Astrid, listen to me. I've seen things that no Viking has ever seen, I've been places that no Viking has ever been, and I don't mean this cave. I mean seeing things from the air."

"From the air? You mean... you mean... _riding_ on the back of that _thing?_"

"I've ridden Toothless many times. Does the idea frighten you?"

She glared at him. "The idea of becoming a traitor like _you_ frightens me. Maybe _you've_ made peace with the enemy, but they're still the enemy. And if I go riding on... _it_... then what does that make _me?_"

Hiccup shrugged. "Maybe it makes you a kidnap victim, seeing how the dragon _is_ a lot bigger and stronger than you are. Maybe you tried to fight it, but it got the drop on you and carried you away. I can think of lots of ways for you to ride on a dragon's back without becoming a traitor like me." He smiled and looked her in the eye, in a way that unnerved her. "Admit it, Astrid. You're curious."

He was right, but she would never admit it to his face. "So you're going to take me up in the air, and when we're done, you'll just put me down again?"

"And then you'll decide how much silence I've bought from you," he nodded. "A day's worth? Two days? A week? Half an hour? I'll leave it up to you."

She gazed at him, somewhat surprised. "You don't sound like the Hiccup I used to know. Being alone too long has changed you."

He relaxed slightly. "No. Having a real friend has changed me." He turned to the dragon. "Toothless, we're taking her for a ride. Back up and let her out." The dragon scowled, but backed out of the cave mouth. Hiccup sat comfortably on the thing's back; he'd clearly done this many times. "Climb on," he half-suggested, half-ordered. "And leave the axe. We'll be back for it later."

She almost felt naked without her axe, especially now that she was facing an unfamiliar dragon. She hesitantly leaned it against the cave wall. The dragon glared at her as she crept past it. She'd never been this close to a dragon before without trying to kill it. She nervously slid onto the black back, unsure what to do with her hands.

She found out what to do with them a moment later, when the dragon turned and sprang into the air. Dragons don't have handles. The only way she could keep from sliding off him was to hang onto Hiccup's shoulders, much though she hated touching him.

The rest of that day was one that she would never forget. She would love to forget the first few minutes of it, though. The dragon changed from a loyal steed to a bucking, unbroken wild animal, doing everything in its power to get her off its back. She clung to Hiccup for dear life as he tried to persuade the animal to behave, and a scream or two of terror did escape her lips. Perhaps the most frightening thing was realizing that Hiccup didn't have the dragon under his complete control; it had a mind of its own.

And then, just when she was reduced to begging for Hiccup's forgiveness (how humiliating!), the bucking wild animal turned back into a loyal steed with wings. Hiccup's suggestion that she stick her head in the clouds came true, quite literally.

Who knew that clouds were so insubstantial? They looked so solid from the ground. But up close...a bare wisp of cool moisture across her hand, nothing more. Who knew that there was a land where there wasn't any land – all she could see was clouds in every direction? Who knew what her village looked like from the air? Everything looked familiar, and yet so different. Hiccup and his dragon were showing her things that she'd never even imagined and could never have conceived of.

Who knew that being a traitor could feel so... awesome?

They stayed up for hours, and it seemed not long enough. As reluctant as she was to start this ride, she was even more reluctant to end it. "Okay, I admit it. Your kind of treason is pretty cool."

The dragon landed lightly in front of the cave. "So, what was that worth to you, in terms of silence?" Hiccup asked.

For an answer, she slugged him in the shoulder. "_That's_ for kidnapping me!" Then she bent over and kissed his cheek. "That's for... everything else. Have a nice life." She reclaimed her axe, turned away, and walked home without looking back.

Hiccup touched his cheek in wonder. "I guess that means she won't say anything," he said out loud to Toothless. He hoped that's what it meant. The dragon seemed mildly amused.

Astrid got home just before the supper hour. But the chief met her as she entered the Mead Hall. "I need to have a quick word with you, young lady." He was wearing his holding-back-the-anger look. That was _never_ good.

He motioned for her to sit at a table in the corner, where one of the town's warriors was already working on a tankard of ale. He joined them. "Scabfester, here, says he saw something flying around the village this afternoon. Something large and black. Do you know anything about that?"

An icicle pierced her heart. _They'd been seen!_ She couldn't look the chief in the eye and lie to him. But she'd made an implied promise to Hiccup to say nothing. How in the Nine Worlds was she going to get out of this one? She tried to keep her face neutral and said nothing.

"He says he saw two people riding on this big black thing. One of them had blonde hair in a thick braid, and metal shoulder pads." He glanced at the other man, who nodded. "Do you know anyone who looks like that?" His voice stayed level, but his manner was getting more threatening by the moment. She tried to look away without looking like she was looking away.

"This is _serious,_ child! You're our best young warrior! Are you ready to throw that away? _Look at me!_" She forced herself to look. "Keeping dangerous secrets from your chief is not a clever thing to do. You could lose your right to be a warrior, forever! Would you rather be apprenticed to a seamstress, or one of the cooks? Maybe you'd rather spend the rest of your life on the clean-up crew in the Mead Hall!" She blanched at that. Cleaning up after those drunken celebrations...

The chief gestured at Scabfester, who got up and left for another table. "The young people in this village are _not_ living up to the Viking code for some reason. I thought I sent a strong message with... with the dragon-loving traitor, but the rest of you are not getting the message. I am going to give you _one_ chance to tell me what you know about this. If you make me think you're holding _anything_ back, it is going to cost you _everything_." He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms, and glared at her.

How in the Nine Worlds was she going to get out of this one?

She took a deep breath, gulped, and began talking. "Just before that big storm... I saw something big and black... flying around Raven Point." When she started, she had no plan for how she meant to end it. She never intended to tell him everything. But his terrible eyes kept boring into her. It didn't help that, the more she said, the angrier he got. Out of sheer terror, she kept talking until there was nothing left to say.

"And...?" he demanded.

"That's all. I walked away and came home, and... and that's all." Still he held her with his powerful gaze. She felt his eyes like two spears, piercing right through her and pinning her to the chair.

At last he looked away. He stroked his beard a few times. Then, in a slightly softer voice, he growled, "You may go now, young warrior. I need to organize a warband." She slowly rose, turned for the door, and ran out into the village, forgetting all about supper.

He had called her "young warrior!" She wasn't going to be punished! She could still complete her dragon training and take an honored place in the village.

But what kind of honor did she have? She had broken her promise to Hiccup.

But she hadn't actually given her word; it was just implied.

He had used the word "warband." They were going to kill the dragon, and probably Hiccup as well.

She'd meant to kill that dragon herself at first. That's what Vikings _did_ with dragons around here. As for Hiccup, didn't a traitor deserve whatever he got? If he'd accepted his original punishment, none of this would have happened.

But did he deserve death for the crime of wanting to stay alive?

The whole situation had been stable until she'd gotten involved. Hiccup was happy, the village was glad to be rid of him, and neither party was bothering the other. Now she'd made an even bigger mess of everything. She had to do something to make it right.

The sun was setting. Finding her way in the forest would be tricky, even dangerous. If the warband found her bootprints in the snow, she'd be caught as Hiccup's co-conspirator. They might even send _her_ to Outcast Island. The outcome of _that_ would be unspeakable for a pretty young girl.

She had to do _something_ to make it right!

She set out along the coast in the waning light, following her own bootprints from this morning. The warband wouldn't take the coastal route to the cove; they'd go the direct way. She'd be safe from them, at least.

She had to warn Hiccup.


	7. Chapter 7

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 7

"Hiccup! Hiccup, wake up! Wake AAAUGH!" Astrid's shout turned to a wail of terror as a huge black shape leaped out of the darkness and pinned her to the ground. All she could see was one huge, angry eye, and part of a tooth-filled mouth. No fugitive from justice ever had a more alert defender, or a more loyal one.

"Toothless, you've got to get Hiccup out of here! The Vikings are coming! Can you understand me?" A low, deadly growl was the only answer she got. She was suddenly unsure whether she was going to survive her own attempt at a good deed.

Thankfully, Hiccup awoke. "Toothless? It's cold in here without you, bud! What's going on?" The dragon let out a snarl in reply.

"Hiccup, please get him _off_ of me!" she begged.

"Astrid? What are you doing here? I could get a bad reputation from girls dropping in on me in the middle of the night. Toothless, let her go." The dragon backed away, but not far.

"This isn't funny, Hiccup. The Vikings are making a warband; they'll be headed this way at first light. You've got to get out of here!"

Hiccup scratched his head. "Why are they coming here?" He suddenly stared at her. "You didn't...?"

"I'm sorry," she stammered. "I... I didn't do such a good job of staying silent. I'm sorry."

"Not half as sorry as I am," he sighed. "Now that you've cleverly ruined my life, where am I supposed to go now?"

She looked around, as if there might be another hiding place in the cove. "There has to be another cave somewhere on the island, doesn't there?"

Hiccup shook his head. "With all this snow covering everything, it could take weeks to find a cave. This is a bad time of year to be without shelter."

"Well, what about another island? There's got to be – "

"Shhh!" Hiccup ordered. In the sudden silence, they heard the sounds of many men walking through the snow, getting closer.

"I thought you said they were coming at first light!" he hissed.

"That's what I thought they were going to do," she whispered back. "Who in his right mind would send out a warband in the middle of the night?"

"Who?" Hiccup echoed. "Someone who has an up-close-and-personal hatred for dragons, that's who. Come on!" He caught her wrist and led her toward Toothless.

"What do you mean? _I_ can't go with _you!_"

"You have to," he replied. "They'll get here and find me gone, and they'll hear your footsteps and find your tracks, and they'll know you warned me. That will make you a criminal, just as bad as me."

"I'm not a criminal! I just wanted to help!" she protested.

"Keep on 'helping' me like this, and we'll _both_ wind up on Outcast Island! Astrid, if you leave with me now, they won't know you were here, and I can bring you safely home later." He suddenly pointed; they could see the torches of the leading men in the warband. "There's no more time for arguing! Come _on!_" He led her to Toothless; she gave up resisting and climbed onto the dragon with him. They soared into the night sky barely a minute before the warband reached the edge of the cove. They wouldn't find the way in until daybreak, but they still would have trapped him with no escape.

"Okay, now what?" she asked as they floated through the darkness.

"Now, we try to stay out of trouble until the sun comes up and we can see. Then... I'll think of something. Toothless, take us up higher. I feel safer there."

The clouds were different at night. They had no color, just shades of gray; they seemed lifeless and vaguely threatening compared to the fluffy white shapes against the blue sky that she'd experienced earlier today. Instead of skirting around them, Toothless went right up through them. She could feel the slight moisture, but she couldn't see anything in the murk.

Then they broke out above the cloud layer, and everything changed. The light of the almost-full moon nearly hurt her eyes. It illuminated the clouds with a cool light, not like daylight but pleasant in its own way. Off to her left, the Northern Lights added some color to the scene. There were no landmarks, nothing man-made. They were almost certainly the only living things around.

"I can see why you feel safer up here," she said, finally breaking the silence. "Do you come here a lot?"

"Every chance I get," he answered over his shoulder. "Usually, I have the place to myself. You're the first 'real' Viking who ever got this far."

"Do you like being alone that much?" she wondered.

"It's not so much that I like it. It's that... I'm used to it. It's all I've ever known. I don't know if this makes sense, but being alone when I'm all by myself is easier than being alone with a bunch of people around."

She tried to imagine what that kind of loneliness felt like. Then she slid forward and wrapped both her arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He tensed up for a moment, then relaxed. They flew that way in silence for a minute or more.

Suddenly, Toothless went rigid. He put a wing over, and dove back into the clouds and out the bottom of them. They could hear some kind of rhythmic chirping sounds all around, but it was too dark to see.

"Toothless, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked. The dragon shook his head with a quick snarl and continued on his own course.

"Is he trembling?" Astrid asked. She was already nervous; if the dragon was also nervous, then that was _really_ bad.

"Something's wrong," Hiccup answered. "What's the matter, bud?"

Seemingly as an answer, Toothless swerved hard to the left, barely avoiding an irregular shape that loomed up out of the darkness. They had almost collided with another dragon! It was a Monstrous Nightmare, and it was carrying some kind of sea mammal in its claws. It glanced at them for a moment and kept on flying.

A moment later, they swerved toward it. Another dragon had overtaken them on the left; this one was a Zippleback, and it appeared to be carrying a goat. She could make out the dim silhouette of a Nadder in front of them now, carrying something fish-shaped. They were surrounded by dragons! From every direction, she could hear those chirping, trilling sounds, some high-pitched, some low. Astrid was grateful for the heavy overcast, and for the darkness they were flying through. She didn't _want_ to see what was all around her.

The great flock dove and began swerving through wild-looking rock formations. They all seemed to know where to go; there were no mid-air collisions. An island loomed up, with a glowing volcano in the middle of it. They all headed straight at it, and funneled into a narrow crevice that took them into the heart of the mountain.

They emerged into a huge, dimly-lit cave filled with dragons of every kind. Those that were carrying animals or fish dropped them into the mist that covered the bottom of the cave. Those that carried nothing, like Toothless, stared downward in terror and tried to hide as quickly as possible. The Night Fury found an unoccupied ledge and tried to look small.

"If my dad thinks he can take this nest, he's biting off more than he can chew," Hiccup whispered to Astrid. A moment later, his words were horrifyingly brought to life – a Gronckle dropped a single small fish into the mist, and was quickly repaid for its laziness by being _eaten alive_ by a dragon bigger than either of them could ever have imagined.

"_What_... was _that?_" Astrid gasped.

The huge head started to sink back into the mist, but stopped. It sniffed the air. Its tiny eyes focused on where the Night Fury and his two riders were hiding.

"We've got to get out of here, bud! _Now!_" Toothless leaped into the air and surged up into the empty volcanic cone. If all the other dragons had done the same thing, he might have blended in with them and escaped. But all the other dragons cringed and hid as the giant dragon leaped out of the yellow murk and chased the Night Fury up, out of the volcano, and into the night sky.


	8. Chapter 8

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 8

"It's still chasing us!" Astrid cried. "Remember how you said you were going to bring me safely home?"

"The night isn't over," he answered as he guided Toothless in a zigzag evasive course. "Do you know any tricks from dragon training that might be useful here?"

She tried to focus her mind on something other than the monstrous dragon that was trying to overtake them and swallow them alive. "Make noise to throw it off? No good – we don't have any shields to bang on. Shot limit? No good; we don't know –" Toothless suddenly swerved to the left, just in time to dodge a roaring pillar of flame that would have consumed them like flies. "Okay, shot limit minus one, but we still don't know the number. Blind spot? Every dragon has one; if we can find it, we can hide in it."

Hiccup turned Toothless around and they swooped up toward that impossibly huge head. As they circled it quickly, two lumps on either side of that head flicked open, revealing more eyes that stared at them hatefully. Hiccup stared back. Astrid felt him go tense.

"That _does_ it!" he exclaimed forcefully. "I have _had_ it with dragons and their eyes, destroying my life! This one has _way_ too many eyes to start with. He's going down!"

"I really don't want to get in the middle of this grudge match," Astrid begged. "Before he goes down, can you put _me_ down?"

"If I can do it without getting eaten, you've got a deal." he nodded. "Toothless, let's show him some speed!" They banked to the right and shot away from the enormous creature. The big dragon was fast but not maneuverable; it took a few seconds to change its course, and that gave Hiccup the time he needed.

They dove for the mountainside and swept around a small ridge, which blocked the monster's view of them for a few seconds. Toothless descended and slowed down, and Astrid leaped off him. She hit the ground running, flailing awkwardly but somehow staying on her feet. The black dragon and his rider turned away, leaving her a spectator to the distant battle that followed. She realized that she wasn't a neutral observer; if Hiccup lost his fight, that would leave her stranded on this island full of dragons. Even Outcast Island sounded good compared to that. "Go!" she cried; it was an encouragement, a command, and a prayer all in one word.

He tried to lead the giant into narrow crevices where it might get stuck. It simply flexed its shoulders and shattered the rocks, sending great boulders flying like drops of water when a dog shakes itself dry. Then he led it up into the overcast, which was lightening with the approaching dawn. What happened up there, she couldn't tell. All she saw was occasional flashes of light, accompanied by ear-splitting bellows.

Then they plunged out of the clouds, coming straight down. The huge dragon's wings were peppered with glowing holes, evidently Toothless' handiwork. She saw a quick flash of blue light, and flames began streaming out of the monster's mouth. Toothless braked and swerved aside as the giant flew headfirst into the ground. Its existence was blotted out by an even bigger fireball; the shock wave almost knocked her off her feet.

Perhaps it was just as well that she didn't see what happened on the far side of that fireball. When the shock wave caught up with Toothless, it whisked Hiccup off his back like a feather. The dragon's eye patch flipped up, leaving him unable to stop his human friend's plunge into the frigid Arctic Ocean. Nor could he rescue him for several minutes; his double vision kept playing him false. By the time he finally figured out which image was the real Hiccup and pulled him from the water, the boy was unconscious from the cold.

The first thing Astrid saw was the dragon making an awkward landing on its back legs; he was clutching Hiccup in his front legs. He lowered the boy to the ground as she ran over to them, and pushed him with his nose, crooning urgently. She quickly felt his cheek and forehead, but the hard shivering and the unhealthy white skin color told her all she needed to know.

"We've got to get him warm!" she said. Did the dragon understand her? Would he even listen to her? "He's cold! We've got to warm him up! Can you do that?" The dragon stared at her for a few seconds. Then he gathered Hiccup in his forelegs, rolled over on his side, and wrapped both his wings around him. He glanced at her, as though looking for approval.

"Yes, that's good," she nodded. "Keep him warm."

The dragon let out a nervous moan and lowered his head to the ground. She sat down beside him, laid one hand on the scaly head, closed her eyes, and prayed to whichever gods might be listening, that they would spare this traitor, this criminal, this boy who supposedly stood opposed to all the things she believed in. She was beginning to question a lot of those things, especially the parts about how dragons are nothing but evil.

A few hours later, Hiccup began to stir. Toothless opened a gap in his wings so they could see his face, which was still far too white. "Cold," was all he could say through his chattering teeth. Astrid realized he would probably die if they stayed here; they had to get him to a healer. But if they took him home, they'd send him to join the Outcasts, punish her for helping him, and probably kill the dragon. She did her best to explain this to Toothless.

The dragon's answer was to lay Hiccup at her feet, stand, and make a head gesture that could only mean "Let's go." She laboriously pushed his limp body onto the dragon's back and climbed up behind him. She held Hiccup close to her with one arm, and worked Toothless' eye-flap handle with the other. That left her no hands to hang on with. "Let's do this," she sighed, and said goodbye to her future and her freedom. If Toothless was willing to give his life for Hiccup, she could do no less.

They flew swiftly but smoothly; Toothless seemed to understand that his riders weren't hanging onto him. As they approached Berk, they saw people pointing at them. An armed crowd quickly gathered. "That's the traitor!" someone shouted. "And the other one!" someone else yelled. The moment they landed, nets were thrown; rough hands grabbed her and dragged her away. "Please, you've got to help him!" she cried before she lost sight of the boy and the dragon.

**o**

Hiccup awoke in a completely dark room. He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious, but his growling stomach told him it had been a few days at the very least. He was lying on some furs, but those furs were spread on a rough stone floor, not a bed. He heard and felt his dragon's breathing nearby.

"Hey, Toothless. You okay?" he asked. The dragon joyously butted him with his nose, crooning with delight. "Hey, hey, easy, bud! I'm glad to see you too, even though I can't see you." He rolled and tried to stand –

There was something wrong with his left leg. He reached down, and felt wood and metal.

The dragon seemed to sense his shock and terror. He let out a sad moan and nudged him. Hiccup's eyes were adjusting to the darkness, and he could just make out Toothless' eyes, large and concerned, focused completely on him. _Dragon's eyes again,_ he thought. _Maybe they're good sometimes_. He rubbed the big head affectionately; it distracted him for a moment.

"Where am I?" he asked out loud.

"In a dragon training cell," came a voice from a distance. It could only be Gobber. "Ye're not makin' a jailbreak this time. Ye can take your punishment like a man, or take it like a coward, but ye're _going_ to take it."

Hiccup took a deep breath. "What happened to my leg?"

"Frostbite," Gobber answered. "Too much time in a boot filled with icy water. The healer said ye'd have lost both legs, but one o' your boots had a leak an' the water ran out. I gave ye a new leg, an' it's a bit fancier than ye deserve, but I feel like I owe my ex-apprentice somethin'."

"Where's Astrid?"

"She's under house arrest. Don't worry, she'll get a hearing, just like ye did."

"I hope not." Hiccup felt his leg again, trying to come to terms with it. "When the guards relieve you, please tell Spitelout I want to talk to him."

"Spitelout has nothin' to say to you."

"Maybe not," Hiccup countered, "but he needs to hear what _I_ have to say to _him_. Unless he'd rather go to Outcast Island with me."

"Go with ye? What are ye talkin' about? Our town's second-in-command is no outcast!"

"I don't want to talk to Spitelout, the second-in-command. I want to talk to Spitelout, the criminal who took my legal rights away. And I want to talk to him before anyone does anything to me or Astrid. Otherwise, that ship that's bound for Outcast Island is going to have more than one unwilling passenger."

After a long pause, Gobber answered, "I'll tell 'im, lad. But I'll warn ye, he's not in a good mood towards ye."

_What a coincidence. I'm not in the greatest mood toward him, either,_ Hiccup thought.


	9. Chapter 9

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 9

Slowly, hesitantly, Hiccup tried to stand and walk with his new leg. It went out from underneath him several times. Each time, Toothless was somehow there to catch him. It was awkward, and it hurt like fire, but Hiccup was nothing if not determined. By the time he heard Spitelout's voice outside his cell, he could stand on his own feet again.

"I don't like being threatened, traitor, and we've already spent more time on you than you're worth. Whatever you want to say, say it quickly."

"Spitelout, I want this whole matter brought up before the Thing. I have the right to demand that."

The big man snorted. "That's a waste of time. The Viking council will give you the same verdict and the same punishment that we did."

"Maybe they will, and maybe they won't, but it's not my case they need to hear. It's yours, Spitelout."

"Mine? What are you threatening me with?"

"Viking law says a criminal gets a hearing," Hiccup answered. "Thanks to you, I didn't get one. I wasn't allowed to say _one word_ in my own defense. That's a serious violation of a free man's rights. When the Law-Speaker asks why you did that to me, what are you going to tell him? Maybe they'll send me into exile anyway, but you'll be right there beside me."

If Hiccup was right, then Spitelout wouldn't be the only guilty party. Stoick would also be implicated, and the second-in-command knew it. Would Hiccup actually press a charge against his own father? The father had already condemned the son; everyone knew they didn't get along well. The tribe might become leaderless.

There was a long silence outside. Hiccup wondered if Spitelout might have walked away. At last, he spoke. "What do you want, Hiccup?"

"I want a real hearing, with the chance to speak for myself. And I want a guarantee that no one will hurt this dragon until my case is settled."

He heard Spitelout chuckle. "You're still taking the dragons' side? All right, you'll get your hearing, though I doubt it'll be a long one. And you've got your guarantee, for all the good it will do. You owe this village one dead dragon, and I'm going to _enjoy_ settling the score." Hiccup considered that thought for quite some time.

The next morning, the cell doors swung partly open, revealing a double row of armed guards. Toothless was ready to bolt for freedom, but Hiccup held him back. "It's just for a little while longer, bud, and then we'll _both_ be free again." He walked slowly because of his leg. He suspected this annoyed the guards, who wanted to move faster, so he deliberately kept his pace slow. They entered the Mead Hall, where the rest of the adult men of the village were already waiting. Stoick pointedly looked in any direction except at the accused.

"This hearing is to determine the guilt or innocence of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, on the charge of treason against the village of Berk," Spitelout recited. "To wit, on the thirteenth day of –"

"Can we get on with it?" Stoick asked with some irritation.

"We're going to do this by the book, to satisfy the young Law-Speaker here," Spitelout answered snidely, jerking his thumb at Hiccup. He listed the date, time, and the exact details of the crime. Then he asked, "Are you guilty or innocent of this charge?"

"Guilty," Hiccup said without hesitation.

"All righty then," Spitelout said, turning his back on the defendant. "If you have something to say in your own defense, then say it now and get it over with."

Hiccup stood. "First, I want to bring up something you said yesterday, Spitelout. You said I owe this village one dead dragon, and you're going to enjoy settling the score. What did that mean?"

"It means you were supposed to kill the dragon you captured," Spitelout lectured him. "You didn't do it; you failed as a Viking. So you owe us a dragon. That black one you were riding isn't as good as a Monstrous Nightmare, but it will do. As soon as this hearing is over and you've been sent away, I intend to kill it, and our score against the dragons will be even."

Hiccup smiled. "So you're saying that, if I killed a dragon myself, that would cancel the debt I owe the town? We'd be even?"

Spitelout quickly sensed the potential for trouble, so he turned to Stoick for help. The chief stroked his beard, trying not to look at Hiccup, which was hard. His rage had faded with the passing of time; now he had to reconcile his hatred of treason with his love for his only son. Finally he answered.

"_If_ you had killed a dragon _before_ you were convicted of a crime, and _if_ that dragon was of greater value than the one you let escape, then the village would accept that you'd done your duty, and there would be no charges against you. Unfortunately, you've already been convicted, and even if you did kill another dragon, it couldn't be of greater value than a Monstrous Nightmare, because the Nightmare is the largest of all dragons. That line of thinking won't help you."

"No, Dad, I'm sorry, but you're mistaken on both counts," Hiccup replied. "That first hearing was illegal because I didn't get a chance to defend myself, so I haven't been convicted of _anything_ yet. As for the value of the dragon I killed, what if I told you that, not only is it bigger than a Monstrous Nightmare, but its death means there won't be any more dragon raids on Berk? Is that a high enough value?"

That set the spectators to talking. Stoick and his second-in-command conferred urgently. Spitelout turned and faced Hiccup, not quite as sure of himself as he'd been when the hearing began. "As for the legality of that first hearing, we may have to let the Thing decide. As for your claims about this dragon you say you killed, you'll have to prove it in front of reliable witnesses."

"I can do that," Hiccup said. "Choose some reliable witnesses, and get a ship ready. Toothless and I will take you to the dead dragon, and you can see it for yourselves."

Spitelout started to object, but Stoick spoke first. "A ship? Where is this dead dragon?"

Hiccup looked pointedly at his father and dropped his bombshell. "At the dragons' _nest_."

There was dead silence for the span of a heartbeat. Then Stoick shot to his feet, his bench crashing to the floor behind him, and strode forward until he was less than a foot from his son. All charges and accusations were forgotten, and he was oblivious to the sudden hubbub among the witnesses. He didn't look angry; he was in the full throes of a life-long curiosity.

"_How_ did you find the nest?" he demanded.

"Only a dragon can find it," Hiccup answered. "A dragon won't take you there willingly. Toothless will guide us if I tell him to, but it has to be on my terms. My terms are, neither of us gets bound or restrained."

"He'll just fly away as soon as we get out to sea!" Spitelout objected.

"With a crime as serious as treason, I can't leave you unrestrained," Stoick said, but his voice wasn't so harsh now.

In the back row, Gobber stood up. "Hiccup, are ye telling us the truth about all this?"

"Gobber, I've failed a lot of people in a lot of ways, but you know that being a liar isn't one of them."

The smith faced the chief. "Then I'll take responsibility for the lad. My life for his, if he escapes. Leave 'im unrestrained."

The chief slowly nodded.

"Thank you, Gobber," Hiccup said. "There's one more thing. I want Astrid to ride that ship as well. She's charged with helping a criminal, namely me. Once I prove that I've done my duty to the village, then I'm no longer a criminal, and there's no charge left against her."

Spitelout looked at Stoick and shook his head. Stoick thought, then nodded. "You stand together or fall together. Very well. Hiccup, do you give your word that you won't try to escape until this thing is settled?"

"I give my word, Dad." He knew he had everything to gain from this one chance to prove himself, and everything to lose by fleeing back into the wilderness in the dead of winter.

"What is the word of a traitor worth?" Spitelout demanded.

"He hasn't been convicted of _anything_ yet," the chief growled at him. He turned to the guards. "Take him back to the training ring and lock him there, but _not_ in the dragon cell. Provide him with decent food and water. Leave no guards on duty; they won't be needed." To Spitelout, he said, "Prepare a ship to sail tomorrow. You and I will be on it, along with Gobber, Hiccup, the Hofferson girl, that black dragon, and as many armed warriors as it will carry. If we get to the nest, and the dragons aren't as peaceful as Hiccup says, I want to be ready for a fight. If they _are_ peaceful, the warriors will be the witnesses."

"Right, Stoick," the second-in-command nodded, and left the building in great haste.

"This hearing is still officially in session," Stoick shouted over the hubbub of the spectators, "and it will be in session until we've either seen the defendant's evidence, or found that there is none. You can all go to your homes. I'll let you know when it's time to gather here again." They filed out by two's and three's, talking intently about this most unusual hearing.

As the guards led Hiccup out of the Hall, the chief motioned for them to stop. "Hiccup, I'm giving you a lot of rope. Don't hang yourself with it."

Hiccup almost said, "Don't worry, Dad; you'll be proud of me this time." But he remembered the last time he thought he'd made his father proud. He just nodded. The guards led him away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 10

The ship bobbed placidly on the waves; the wind in the heavy sail pushed it onward. There was no need for oarsmen, so the warriors who might have been plying their oars were free to relax. It might have been a pleasure cruise, were it not for the long black dragon in the middle of the ship, and the threatening heights of Helheim's Gate looming up ahead of them.

Toothless was unhappy. Hiccup had to keep reminding him to lie still, for fear of tipping over the ship. He gave evil looks to everyone except Hiccup and Astrid. It was hard for the others to keep their distance from him when he filled so much of the ship, but somehow they avoided him. They ignored Hiccup, too, except for Astrid and Gobber.

As their goal drew nearer, Gobber asked Hiccup, "What is it, exactly, that we're going to see?"

"A dragon whose head is the size of my father's house," Hiccup replied. "Its guts exploded when it hit the ground, so it might not be as impressive as it was in life. But it's still bigger than half the village."

"That, I'll believe when I see," the smith muttered. "Can ye say ye don't lie on purpose? Yes. Can ye say ye're never mistaken? Not so much. All those times ye said ye shot down a Night Fury..."

"We're getting close," Stoick said to no one in particular. "How do we find our way in?"

"Watch Toothless' head," Hiccup answered. "If he looks to the left, steer to the left. He can hear the dragons talking, and he'll guide us in." As if on cue, the Night Fury raised his head as though sniffing the air, and looked to the right.

"Out of my way!" Stoick ordered. He took the rudder himself, and steered the course that the dragon's reactions suggested. One of the nearby warriors heard him mutter, "I never thought I'd see this day. I'm taking sailing orders from a _dragon!_"

They made the passage in nervous silence. Most of the adults had attempted similar journeys before, and had always been turned back by either dragon fire or the impenetrable maze of rocks. They could hear the chittering and hooting of dragons in the distance, but that and the slapping of water against the bow were the only sounds. They clutched their weapons, more for security than for any hope that they'd be useful if the dragons attacked the ship. Astrid kept one hand on her axe, but she left the head resting on the deck, not raised and ready for action.

Finally, the bow slid up against a rocky beach and ground to a halt. Stoick was the first to jump ashore; the moment he landed, the dragons' noises stopped. Everyone left the ship except two sailors who stayed behind. They all gave Toothless plenty of room. He acted tame as long as Hiccup was near, but he was still a dragon and they didn't trust him.

"All right, Hiccup," Spitelout said. "Show us this dead dragon of yours."

Hiccup pointed. "It's right over there."

"You mean, on the other side of that strange-looking hill?" Gobber asked.

"Uhhh, Gobber... about that hill..." Hiccup smiled.

"Well, where else could – _beard of Thor!_ Look at the _size_ of that thing!"

"The hill _is_ the dragon!" Spitelout squeaked. He covered his mouth, embarrassed that his voice had broken.

They all stared, seemingly rooted to the rocky ground. Even Astrid, who had seen it before, was stunned at the sheer bulk of the thing.

Finally, Stoick began walking toward it, followed by the others. It was about a half-mile walk. Hiccup rode on Toothless because his leg still hurt to walk on, and the rocks were rough. Finally, they stood next to the beast.

The smell of burnt dragon was strong; many of the ribs were visible, and the skull and half the neck were crushed almost flat. The lower end and the tail were nearly intact. The chief stared at it. Somehow, his endless rage against all dragons was sated by the sight of this obscenely huge beast lying dead before him.

"Well, there's no question it's a worthy dragon, and there's no question that it's dead," Stoick decided. "To make your case, though, you have to prove that _you_ killed it, and you have to back up your claim that the dragons won't raid us any more."

"The fact that I knew where it was, is evidence that I killed it," Hiccup began.

"I'm a witness to him killing it," Astrid interrupted. "I saw the whole thing."

"A woman's word isn't valid in a formal hearing," Spitelout countered.

"The law says, if a man contradicts a woman, the man's word prevails," Hiccup said. "But there _are_ no male witnesses to this, except for me, of course. So unless you find some other male witness to contradict Astrid's testimony, then her word _is_ valid."

"Where did ye learn so much about Viking law?" Gobber asked.

"I learned a lot of things here and there," Hiccup replied. "Over the past few weeks, I've had plenty of time to think about stuff like this. To answer your question about the dragon raids: the only reason they raided us was to feed this thing. We saw them bringing food to it, and we saw it eat a dragon alive if it didn't bring enough. Now that it's dead, the dragons have no more reason to bother us."

"Don't they still need to eat?" Phlegma asked.

"They like fresh fish better than anything," Hiccup answered. "Why would they risk raiding us and getting killed, when they can catch all they want from the sea with no risk?"

"You're assuming dragons are logical, sensible creatures," Stoick countered. "You can't possibly know if that's true."

"Actually, Dad, I do know that. At least, this guy –" he patted Toothless' neck "– is pretty sensible."

The discussion was ended by a loud roar. They looked back the way they had come. A group of dragons – a Gronckle, two Deadly Nadders, and a Monstrous Nightmare – had landed on the beach and was advancing toward them. They didn't look tame.

"That's too many for this group to fight," Spitelout muttered as he laid a hand on his sword.

"Then we won't fight them." Hiccup swung off his dragon and hobbled toward the approaching dragons.

"Hiccup! No! Come back!" Gobber shouted.

"No, you need to see this!" Hiccup called back. "You have to see that me training Toothless wasn't a one-time fluke. They aren't what we think they are! We don't have to kill them any more." He turned back toward the dragons that were now in easy fire-breathing distance of him.

He spread his hands, showing them that he had no weapons. "Hey, guys," he said. "We want to be friendly. Do you?"

The Monstrous Nightmare rose up to its full height. It didn't look friendly. It growled and glared down at Hiccup, who looked back.

Those dragon eyes looked _angry_.

But they also looked very familiar.

The dragon stared at him, motionless, for nearly half a minute. Then it lowered its head nearly to the ground, and stuck its nose right up against Hiccup. He fell backwards – his new leg betrayed him – but he scrambled back to his feet. The dragon pushed him again with its head; this time, he laid his hands on its nose, and resisted the push. It moved him back, but not as far.

"It's okay, it's okay," he said quietly. "Do you remember me?"

The dragon stopped. It sniffed him once, twice. He rubbed its nose horn and looked it in the eyes. Its growl dropped to a basso purr that the other Vikings could feel through the air. It almost seemed to smile at him.

The other dragons looked confused. They had been playing follow-the leader, and their leader appeared to be making peace with their prey. They looked around the huge Nightmare, trying to see what was going on, unwilling to go past him. The Vikings couldn't retreat past the bulk of the dead super-dragon, and they certainly didn't want to charge. As a result, no one attacked anyone.

It was a remarkable tableau. One thin young man had stepped up against four big dragons, and stopped them with nothing more than his open hand and his certainty that he was right.

"You can't fault his courage, Stoick," Gobber said quietly. The chief nodded wordlessly. He was more amazed than anyone else at what he was seeing, because he knew his son's faults better than anyone else. Those faults were nowhere to be seen now. The boy had certainly changed!

Stoick looked again at his son, holding a Monstrous Nightmare at bay bare-handed to protect his fellow villagers. Then he looked at the massive dead dragon behind them. He turned to the other Vikings. "Are any of you witnesses prepared to say that we're looking at a traitor?"

No one replied. The answer was obvious. They all knew a Viking warrior when they saw one.


	11. Chapter 11

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 11

The end of the hearing was a mere formality. Hiccup was deemed to have met his obligations to the tribe, and all charges against him were dropped. Astrid's name was also cleared. Time passed, and the dragons didn't come back, except to occasionally fish offshore. Berk prospered.

The only remaining question was, what to do with Hiccup?

There was an initial time of adulation and celebration, even hero worship. He enjoyed it with some embarrassment, without letting it go to his head. But as time went by and village life returned to normal, it became increasingly obvious that he still didn't fit in.

He refused to take part in dragon training, except to tell Astrid how to handle an angry dragon without resorting to weapons. She used his information to pacify a charging Nadder by tickling its neck. After that, she dropped out of dragon training as well. "I just don't want to fight them any more" was all she'd tell anyone. Snotlout wound up winning the dragon-training competition, but it was a hollow victory. There would be no Monstrous Nightmare waiting in the ring for him. The village had lost interest in killing dragons for sport. As soon as the winner was announced, the doors to the training ring were opened and all the dragons were set free.

Hiccup tried to return to the obscurity of the forge, sharpening garden tools and hammering out pulley brackets for fishing boats. It was important work that the village needed, but it was tame stuff for someone who rode a dragon and had fought in the sky. His mind tended to wander, and that was when the "incidents" happened. Sometimes he just burned his fingers; sometimes he ruined what he was working on, and had to start over; twice, he almost burned down the forge. Even Gobber was beginning to lose patience with him. No one could fault his workmanship, but they deeply mistrusted his work in progress.

Worst of all, no one really felt comfortable around him. They knew he'd officially redeemed himself, but when they looked at him, they couldn't forget the word "traitor." No one would sit with him at meal times in the Mead Hall. Few would look him in the eye when they met him in the streets of town. The fact that he rode a dragon and talked to it only made him more strange to them. Some of the warriors even blamed him for ending the dragon wars and taking away their chances for glory. Most of the other teens did their best to pretend he didn't exist.

The bonds that tie a person into his culture are not strong like forged iron. They are easily broken and can be hard to mend, especially among those who commit the unpardonable sin of non-conformity. Individual Vikings were willing to forgive Hiccup for what he had done. The community as a whole, couldn't. Wouldn't.

He took to spending large amounts of time flying around with Toothless. With the exceptions of Gobber and Astrid, no one noticed he was gone. It was just like the days when he was on the run, except now he wasn't an escaped criminal, so no one had any reason to go looking for him.

Astrid asked to fly with him whenever she saw him preparing to take off. He never invited her, but he never refused her, either. He usually didn't say much in the air. She was content with that; the view from one mile up was breathtaking, and she was happy just to see it and share it with him. She'd wrap her arms around him from behind, and although he never said anything, she knew he liked it.

One afternoon, he waited for her outside the Mead Hall and asked her to join him in the air. He'd never done that before. She accepted, told her parents she'd be away for the rest of the day, and joined him and Toothless on the hilltop near Stoick's house. Once again they rode off into the sky; she never got tired of that.

They flew out to sea for about an hour, then spiraled down and landed on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It had a beach, some trees, and one good hill. Set into that hill was a fine cave, with a tiny freshwater creek flowing out of it. Hiccup dismounted and sat near the cave mouth; Astrid joined him.

"This would have been a great place for you, when you were hiding," she commented.

"It would have," he said. "It will make an even better place for me now." His words hit her like a whip, but she forced herself to not react. She waited for him to continue. He hugged his knees and looked out to sea.

"You know those stories they tell, about the Norse villages that are threatened by renegade Vikings, so they bring in a few powerful warriors-for-hire to protect them? When the fighting is done and the village is saved, the first thing they do is get rid of the warriors who saved them."

"Is that how you feel? You saved the village, but they still turned their backs on you?" she asked. She already knew the answer.

"They turned their backs on me a long, long time ago," he went on. "They just made it official at the first hearing. Even my dad isn't so proud of me, now that I'm acting like Hiccup the Useless again. I'll never be anything but a misfit and a criminal in that town, no matter what I do." He picked up a rock and flicked it into the cave, then looked out to sea again.

"Toothless and I are happy together. He accepts me for who I am, faults and all, and we've already proven that we can make it on our own. This place is perfect for a guy and his dragon. Except for a passing fishing boat now and then, I won't be reminded..." His voice trailed off.

He glanced back at Astrid, and was shocked to see her fighting back tears. "Astrid, I'm not including _you_ with all of _them!_ Sure, you were a little rough on me at first, but you risked a lot for me, and you don't treat me like all the others do. Sometimes I think you even like me. When I say stuff like that, it's not aimed at you."

She struggled to keep control over herself. She didn't start to talk until she was sure she could speak without breaking down. It took her a minute.

"If you wanted to aim that stuff at me, you'd have every right to. I treated you just as badly as everyone else there. But that's not what I'm thinking about.

"Living with this dragon has changed you, Hiccup. For the better. When you're with him, you're brave, determined, confident, more clever than usual... he brings things out in you that most people never imagine. I love being around you when you're around him.

"Not only that, but the two of you have changed the village together. You changed it so well that you no longer have a place there. All they want to do now is catch fish and raise sheep. They've got no room for someone like you, someone who imagines new things and finds better ways to do old things. You've become a threat to their way of life, just by being yourself."

He opened his mouth, but she laid a finger across his lips. "Please let me finish. I've gotten to know you pretty well, probably better than you think. I know what you're planning. All that flying around that you two were doing – you were looking for a place like this, weren't you? You're going to bring a few of your favorite things out here, one or two at a time so no one notices. You'll bring some tools and some raw materials to make things and fix things, and you'll bring papers to draw on, and some creature comforts like sleeping furs. And then, one day, you and Toothless will just leave and not come back. It will be easier than trying to say 'goodbye' to a bunch of people who are thinking 'good riddance.' Am I right?"

He nodded slowly. "I brought you out here to show you that I'll be okay. I don't want you to worry about me, because you're the only one who _would_ worry about me. Gobber will miss his apprentice, and Dad will miss the son he thought I could be, but you're the only one who will miss _me_."

She slid a couple of inches toward him. "I know you don't have a life in Berk. Like you said, it's a local tradition for people to turn their backs on you. I helped them do that a few times, I admit it, and I really messed your life up once or twice. I know you don't owe me anything. But can I ask you something?"

"What do you want from me?" he asked quietly.

"When you go, please take me with you?"

He stared into her soft blue eyes for what seemed like ages.

"Astrid, I can't see you as the cave-dwelling type. You need action and adventure to keep you happy. You're trying to be noble, and I appreciate that, but are you really drawn to me, or are you just feeling sorry for me?"

She shook her head. "Do you think you're the only one who's been changed by everything that's happened? The only action and adventure I've had in the past three months is when I've ridden Toothless with you, and somehow, that's been enough for me. I used to long for fame and glory, but now I see how heroes get treated in real life. There are people there who still look at _me_ like I helped a criminal. And I don't feel sorry for you; I feel sorry for the people who can't appreciate you because you don't fit the mold they made for you.

"Besides, can you see me in Berk in five years? I'd have to marry Snotlout and make a bunch of babies and learn how to cook. How can I be happy with a future like _that_ when I've flown in the clouds?"

He gave her one of his wry grins and gestured at the cave mouth. "Would you rather live _here_ and make babies and learn to cook?"

"Yes," she said immediately, "as long as I can still fly in the clouds sometimes." She reached out and took his hands in hers. "I'm not like you; there's a lot about you that I don't understand. But I probably understand you better than anyone else on earth, except maybe Toothless. It's just not right that someone as wonderful as you should wind up alone and rejected by everyone.

"And I don't want a future that doesn't have you in it. I mean that, Hiccup."

He gazed back at her. "Could you really be happy, living in a cave, away from your family, eating fish six or seven days a week, always riding behind me in the air? Are you sure?"

She smiled. "Actually, I thought maybe you could help me train my own dragon some day, and we could all go flying together. I know I'd _never_ be happy, living with the kind of people who could treat you the way they do. They've rejected you; how can I live with them?

"As for whether I'm sure? I'm sure of this much: living in a cave with you is better than living in a chief's house with anyone else.

"Please, Hiccup. When you go, take me with you."

After a long pause, he asked, "Are you proposing marriage to me?"

"Nope," she answered with a half-smile. "That's _your_ job. I'm just giving you a clue what my answer might be."

He looked down for a few seconds. "I was really hoping you'd say something like that. I wanted to ask you, but... I was afraid." He sighed. "You'd think I'd be used to rejections by now, but if _you'd_ turned me down, I don't know if I could have bounced back from that one."

They looked out to sea. The sun was beginning to set in the west. Toothless was nearly asleep next to them, watching them out of one half-closed eye. They enjoyed the silence for a minute.

"Asking your parents' permission is going to be hard," he finally said.

She brushed her hair out of her eyes. "You could always kidnap me."

"Nahh, I already did that. Let me think of something original."

They sat hand in hand and watched the sun descend into the sea, and enjoyed the feeling that the world was already passing them by.

_THE END_

**o**

And another story comes to an end. I hope you liked it. To all those who posted favorites, followers, and especially reviews, thank you! This story has gotten nearly 200 of the above, and that's before I posted this final chapter. That's humbling. It also makes me want to write more stuff.

**o**

Since I published this chapter, I've gotten multiple requests for a sequel or an epilogue. I'd meant to close the book on this story, but I'm a sucker for popular demand. It may take me a bit of time to get the story line rolling again, but if you're one of those who asked me for more, it pleases me to announce that I'll try to make you happy.


	12. Chapter 12

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 12

_A/N_ By popular demand, I am re-opening this book. Enough people asked for an epilogue or a sequel that I feel obligated to appease you. ;-) I'm not sure if my plans for the rest of this story should be called a sequel or an epilogue, but it will run for a few more chapters, at least.

**o**

Stoick the Vast knocked on the Hoffersons' door the next morning. Edda answered the door and invited him in – somewhat nervously, it seemed to him. She was cleaning up after breakfast; her husband, Gunnarr, was getting ready for another busy day in the butcher shop. They weren't accustomed to visits from the chief. Her first thought was to worry that one of their sons had gotten into some kind of trouble.

"I would like to speak to you privately, Gunnarr. Is that possible?"

"Yes, Stoick. Is there some problem?"

"No, not at all." He waited; Gunnarr gestured for Edda to find something to do elsewhere.

"I'll run down to the tanner's and see if your new apron is ready, Gunnarr." She stepped outside, but paused and listened at the door. Her husband could talk quietly, but Stoick couldn't keep his voice down if his life depended on it. Whatever the problem was, she felt like she had a right to know.

She heard the chief say, "Gunnarr, has anyone approached you about, uhh, about arranging a marriage for your oldest daughter?" Edda did the world's fastest job of putting two and two together, let out a whoop of delight, and almost skipped to the tanner's. Her daughter and the chief's son, _engaged!_ Astrid would be marrying into the chief's family! Oh, the prestige! Oh, the honor! Oh, the _money!_ It was a match made in Asgard!

It took Stoick and Gunnarr about an hour to work out the details of the contract. Bride-price, dowry, and morning-gift had to be settled; the date had to be set; other details had to be ironed out. It took another twenty minutes to find witnesses and recite the contract in their presence. They clasped hands, and it was done. Stoick was sure that, when his son came home from the forge that evening, he would greet the news joyously. It was no secret that Hiccup and Astrid spent a lot of time together; this would make it permanent for them, and it would be good for both families.

In fact, when Hiccup banked the fires for the night and left the forge, he was rather depressed. He'd gotten distracted while mending Mr. Hofferson's favorite meat cleaver, and managed to ruin it, _just_ as its owner stopped by to see how the work was progressing. He'd had to make a brand-new one from scratch, and while the finished product would be excellent, it would also be a day later than he'd promised. That would have bothered him with any customer, but especially with the father of the girl he hoped to marry. He wanted to make a better impression on Mr. Hofferson than that. He'd also had to agree to pay the butcher something for the loss of his favorite tool, replacement or no replacement.

He returned to his house feeling somewhat downcast. When his father greeted him with a huge smile, he had no idea what to make of it, except that it probably wouldn't be good for him, because very few things in this village _were_ good for him.

"Son, I've got exciting news!" Stoick began.

"Oh, really?" There was no use pretending to be excited; his dad never paid attention to his moods anyway.

"I've been talking to Mr. Hofferson, you see."

"That figures," Hiccup nodded. "He must be pretty disappointed."

"No, I think he was quite happy about it, actually. I've got it all worked out."

"I hope he didn't charge us too much," Hiccup said nervously. This conversation was edging into the surreal.

"Now, don't you worry about that, Hiccup. I paid it all for you. It's all settled, down to the last copper."

"Thanks, Dad. Maybe you could tell him I feel really bad about this..."

"You... you do?" Stoick was baffled by that.

"Yeah, and I promise it won't happen again..."

"I certainly hope _not!_" the chief exclaimed.

"... and if it does, I'll keep making him new ones until I come up with one that's just like his first one."

Stoick looked perplexed. "Hiccup, he and his wife might not like the sound of that. How, exactly, are you planning to make him a new daughter?"

"A new _what?_" Okay, this just hit the limits of the surreal and dove off the edge. "Who said anything about a daughter?"

"Isn't that what we're talking about?" Now it was Stoick's turn to be completely confused.

"No, I was talking about his meat cleaver that I ruined in the forge today. I really feel bad about it, and..." He got no further before his father began to laugh and couldn't stop. Hiccup added a few nervous giggles, but he had no idea what was so funny. He hadn't heard his father laugh like that since...

...since that awful night when he'd inadvertently brought down the Monstrous Nightmare.

Suddenly, his father's uncontrolled laughter seemed like a portent of impending disaster.

His own attempts at laughter stopped. He'd wait patiently until his father could stop laughing. Then he'd find out what calamity he'd brought upon himself this time. Would it be worse than last time, when he'd gotten charged with treason and had to flee the village to avoid exile? _Could_ it be worse?

"A meat cleaver!" Stoick howled. "A meat cleaver!" He finally brought himself under control.

"Son, I wasn't talking about a meat cleaver! I was talking about your engagement!"

"My _what?_" If this conversation took one more wild turn, it was going to get lost in the woods and would never be found again.

"Your engagement to his daughter, Astrid! That's what I talked to him about! It's all arranged! Congratulations, son – you're engaged!"

Hiccup stared at him blankly. It was as though there was a wall in his head that wouldn't let good news through, and his father's words had hit that wall and stopped before he could really hear them. Could it really be that easy? After all his failures and mistakes and calamities and disasters, was it possible that something _that_ important could go _right?_

"Well, son, what do you think?" His father was almost pathetically eager for his approval.

"I... I... thanks, Dad! That's the best news I've had all year! Thanks!"

"Ha ha! I _knew_ you'd approve!" The big man siezed his son's much smaller hand and shook it so vigorously, he nearly dislocated every joint in Hiccup's arm. His mood suddenly turned sober. "This is your first big step toward adulthood, Hiccup! No more mooning around in the sky all day on a dragon, now. And no more silly mistakes in the forge. You're going to have responsibilities. It's time to grow up, son."

"Yeah, Dad. It sure is." A sudden thought hit him. "Does she know about this yet?"

"I suppose she'll find out about it from her father when she gets home," Stoick said.

"I'd like to tell her, if I could."

"Son, tread carefully," his father warned him. "Now that you're engaged, you're not supposed to be alone with her at any time. That's how trouble starts, and that's how rumors start. You're the chief's son; everyone's eyes will be on you. Don't make me ashamed of you."

He almost said, "Don't worry, Dad, you won't be ashamed." But he had a long, well-established history of making his father ashamed. Instead, he said, "I won't be alone with her," as he ran out the door.

He figured she'd be in the woods, practicing with her axe the way she always did when her chores were done. He knew pretty much where she would be. But, with his father's warning fresh in his ears, he didn't dare go into the woods to find her. Instead, he waited on the path that led into the forest, making sure he was in plain view to anyone who might walk by or glance in his direction. He waited.

Waiting was hard.

He felt like an hour went by, but it was barely ten minutes before she walked jauntily up the path, her axe on her shoulder. She'd had a good workout and she was in a good mood. Her face lit up even more when she saw Hiccup.

"Astrid, hi! Hi, Astrid! Uhh, did you hear any interesting news today?"

"No. Did you?"

"Yes, kind of. Well, yes, really. Really interesting news."

"Well?" she demanded. "Tell me!"

"It's... kind of awkward. I hate to tell you this out here in public."

"No problem; the woods are two minutes away," she said. "We'll take a quick walk and you can tell me there."

"That's part of the problem," he stammered. "I can't go in there with you. We're not supposed to be alone together."

"Why not? We've been alone together lots of times! The only people who aren't supposed to be alone together are..." Her face suddenly lit up in the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her. "Hiccup, are we... did your dad... my dad... are we...?"

He grinned and nodded. "That's right. I ruined your dad's meat cleaver!"

"_Huh?_" Her smile vanished. It returned as he described the scene in his father's house, and she was laughing out loud before he was done.

"Oh, Hiccup, I can't believe it! They're letting me _marry_ you! I thought we'd have to elope or something! We can go with our parents' blessing, and..." Then she turned somber. "That means I'll have to wear a white dress and a bridal crown and all that other girly-stuff, and go through all those traditions and ceremonies..."

"It's just for a day," Hiccup said. "I'm sure you can endure it."

"I suppose," she nodded. "After all, it's just a wedding ceremony. And a reception."

"And a wedding night," Hiccup added glumly.

"Well, there's not much wrong with... oh. _That._"

When a chief's son marries, the consummation of their marriage has to take place in front of witnesses from both families.

_That_ thought took _all_ the joy out of both of them.


	13. Chapter 13

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 13

"Tell me, honestly," Ruffnut asked. "What's it like to be engaged?"

"What's it like?" Astrid echoed her. "Well, it means I can't spend time alone with Hiccup any more, because people think we're going to start a scandal or something.

"It means I have to spend hours at the seamstress' shop, holding up one girly dress after another so my mother can decide which one I should wear for a wedding dress. Then I have to stand still for half an hour while the seamstress takes _all_ my measurements, calling out every number nice and _loud_, just in case I'd forgotten how un-womanly my figure is.

"It means all my married aunts and cousins are starting to tell me about things that are going to happen once I'm married, but they won't give me any details, just enough to give me nightmares.

"It means I have to memorize a bunch of ridiculous ancient stuff for the ceremony. I mean, come on! Can't you just see me serving Hiccup his mead at the reception, and trying to keep a straight face while I'm saying _this_ to him?

_"Ale I bring thee, thou oak-of-battle,  
"With strength blended and brightest honor;  
" 'Tis mixed with magic and mighty songs,  
"With goodly spells, wish-speeding runes._

"So, basically, it stinks, Ruff. I can't wait to _be_ married, but our precious Viking culture sure makes it hard to get there from here."

"Huh? You can't _wait?_ I don't get it." Ruff looked a bit concerned. "I mean, this is _Hiccup_ you're marrying, right? Hiccup the Useless? I know your father arranged it all, and you don't have much choice, but... wouldn't you rather be engaged to a _real_ Viking like Snotlout? Or Fishlegs, or... even my jerk _brother_ would be better than _Hiccup,_ wouldn't he?"

Astrid's face turned a bit hard. "You don't even know him, Ruff. _Nobody_ in this village knows him. There are things about him that you can't even _imagine_ might be true."

"But _you_ know all these amazing mysteries about him, right? That's very... hey, wait a minute." Two random brain cells formed a connection, and Ruff suddenly grinned maliciously. "Astrid... are you in _love_ with him?"

"One _word_ out of you, Ruffnut Thorston, and I'll use _you_ for my next axe-throwing target! Don't you _dare_ start a rumor like that! Do you know what that would do to my reputation?"

Ruff smirked. "Don't worry, old friend. I won't say a word... _today_. I'll wait for the perfect moment when it will do the most good! Yeah, _that_ will be epic!"

Astrid grabbed Ruff by the shirt front and pulled her until their faces were barely two inches apart. Ruff's eyes went wide. Astrid growled a single word. "Don't."

"Uhh... okay. Maybe I won't, then." Her smirk returned. "But I know the truth, _don't_ I?"

"Just _don't_."

**o**

"Tell me, honestly," Tuffnut asked. "What's it like to be engaged?"

"What's it like?" Hiccup echoed him. "Well, it means I can't spend time alone with Astrid any more, because people think we're going to start a scandal or something.

"It means I have to spend hours learning about Viking history and family lines and all kinds of other stuff that can't _possibly_ have any use in real life, but Dad won't quit teaching it to me until I've got it memorized.

"It means I'm supposed to build a new house for the two of us, when I don't know the first thing about carpentry or house planning, or even how to buy lumber, never mind how I'm not the greatest at swinging a hammer.

"It means the entire Hofferson clan, including the in-laws, are keeping their eyes on me every minute, as if they're hoping for me to mess something up so Astrid won't have to marry me.

"It means I have to magically develop enough skill and muscles to throw a sword into a wooden pillar in the Mead Hall, because if I don't, I've brought a curse on my marriage.

"It means I'm supposed to know everything about how to be a husband to my wife, but nobody will tell me anything until the day of the wedding, which doesn't give me much time to think about it before I'm supposed to do it in front of the whole village.

"So, basically, it stinks, Tuff. It's almost like they made up all these traditions to make it _hard_ for people to get married. If they expect every Viking to marry, why do they make it so difficult?"

"Maybe it's just difficult for _you,_" Tuff smirked. "_Real_ Vikings don't have a problem."

"Maybe," Hiccup nodded. "But my dad starts everything he says with 'I know this is hard for you, son, but...' I think it's hard for everybody."

"It can't be _that_ hard," Tuff insisted. "If _I_ was getting married to the hottest babe in town, I'd be so motivated –"

To his everlasting surprise, Hiccup leaned forward and rested a hand on his shoulder. Everyone knew Hiccup had no muscles to speak of, but few realized that he had to have strong hands in order to grip the forge tools that were otherwise too heavy for him. Hand muscles can't always be seen. But they can be felt, when they squeeze your shoulder until you feel the need to scream.

"That's my fiancée you're talking about," Hiccup said in a reasonable tone. "Play it cool with how you talk about her, okay?" He released his grip.

"Ow! What brought that on?" Tuff complained as he rubbed his shoulder.

"I know it's hard to act like you have class when you don't," Hiccup suggested, "but fake it. I've been faking a lot of things all my life. You could do it if you tried."

**o**

"Gunnarr, please, just hear me out! I promise you won't be sorry!"

"Spitelout, it is completely out of the question. You're a month too late."

"Hofferson, my son has had his heart set on your daughter for _years!_ Are you going to make _him_ suffer because of _one month?_"

"It has nothing do to with him, or with suffering. The chief and I made a _deal_. It was _witnessed_. We clasped _hands_ on it. It's _done_. Which part of that don't you understand, Spitelout?"

"I didn't even know your daughter was in the market for marriage! I would have said something ages ago if I'd known!"

"You've got to be kidding! She and Snotlout were born a few months apart; you knew how old she was! She's almost sixteen! In most Viking villages, she would have been married years ago!"

"But she isn't married _yet,_ is she? How much did Stoick offer you for a bride-price? How much did he demand for a dowry? I can beat his offer, whatever it is! Just give me a chance!"

"Spitelout, are you asking me to _break_ my deal with the _chief?_ It's not all about money, you know. There _is_ such a thing as _honor!_"

"All right. If you won't consider my son, would you consider your own daughter? Imagine what her life is going to be like, married to that accident-prone bean-pole! Don't you think _she'd_ be happier with a real Viking?"

Gunnarr wasn't as tall or as beefy as the town's second-in-command. He had to stand on tiptoe to look Spitelout in the eye. That's what he did now, but somehow, he didn't make himself look ridiculous. "If you could have seen my daughter's eyes when I told her about her engagement... There's some kind of connection between those two. I don't know exactly what it is. I've got my whole family watching them to make sure it doesn't burn out of control before the wedding. But I can't imagine her happier with _anyone_ else. Not even your muscular, masculine, real-Viking son.

"The answer is _no_."

**o**

Hiccup yawned hugely. Toothless glanced at him, surprised; it was the first sound Hiccup had made in half an hour.

Stoick didn't want him "mooning around in the sky all day on a dragon." That put limits on when he could work on improving his cave. He had to do it at night, sneaking out of the house through his window so his dad wouldn't know. With an hour's flight time to his island and another hour back, that meant he couldn't spend more than an hour or so each night in the cave without seriously depriving himself of sleep. That, in turn, meant he had to work like crazy in that one hour if he wanted to get anything done.

This cave had never been inhabited by anything but bats and small rodents. It needed huge amounts of cleaning just to be fit for a boy and his dragon. To be fit for a lady... that meant a lot _more_ work.

He resumed chipping away at the wall with mallet and chisel. Mentally, he was making a list of the things he'd need to bring out here. Some would come from his room, some things he would have to buy, and some he'd have to make himself. He had some money for the 'buying' part, and he felt sure there was nothing he couldn't make, if he had the tools for the job.

The question was, would he have enough _time_ to do it all? The wedding was just a few months away.

_I'm supposed to be building you a house, Astrid,_ he thought. _I know you're not the frilly, feminine type, but every lady needs a house she can be proud of. You will __have__ that house, even though it's really a cave. You can settle down here, and you can decorate it the way you like it, and you can raise our –_

Gulp.

_Well, yeah, that usually happens after people get married. And if you aren't ready for that, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, then you'd better __get__ ready, because the way you feel about her, and the way she feels about you, she's __going__ to make you a __father__, sooner and not later._

He started working faster.


	14. Chapter 14

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 14

The wedding and its preparations were every bit as ghastly as Astrid had feared.

She had to wear a white dress that tripped her if she tried to run. She had to take off the kransen she'd worn around her head for years, and replace it with the brass bridal crown that had been her mother's, decorated with the girliest of girly things – _flowers!_ She had to endure a ritual washing, during which her married female relatives told her everything she'd need to know about making her husband happy, including some things that almost curled her hair.

It was some comfort to know that Hiccup had to go through similar ordeals. But it still wasn't fair – _he_ didn't have to wear a _dress_.

He'd done a remarkably good job of staying focused in the forge over the last few months. Part of this was probably due to the fact that he was forging the swords for their wedding ceremony; he knew they _had_ to be good. He had made the wedding rings as well. He wouldn't show them to her in advance, but he promised that they'd be unique and special.

Something else a bridegroom was supposed to do, was build a house for himself and his new wife. Hiccup hadn't done much about that. Stoick had finally hired a few workers to get started on a house, but it was nowhere near ready. Only Astrid knew that Hiccup had no intention of ever living there. He'd mentioned that he was making some improvements to the cave where he planned to live. But because they were engaged, they couldn't spend time alone together, so she hadn't seen any of those improvements. She hadn't been able to go flying on Toothless with him at all. That was the worst part of the entire engagement.

But that was ending at last. They'd been through the ritual sacrifice of blessing. They'd exchanged their swords, with their rings sitting on the pommels. It was just like Hiccup to forge those swords so the pommels were perfectly sized to hold the rings securely. The rings were identical except for size; they were gold, of course, and each ring carried three tiny black jewels that were surprisingly shiny. She'd glanced at her ring and given him an inquiring look. "Chips from one of Toothless' scales," he whispered back.

They'd exchanged their vows, she'd crossed the threshold of the Mead Hall without tripping (that accursed dress made it hard), and he'd somehow thrown his sword hard enough to sink it into the main pillar. Good; they wouldn't start their marriage under any bad omens. The reception had its own share of embarrassing traditions – the hammer in her lap, the serving of the mead – but that, too, was over and done. There were plenty of guests, although they'd mostly come on account of the bride's and groom's families; few cared that much about the bride, and no one could say they cared about the groom.

Now she and that groom were being paraded down the streets from the Mead Hall to Stoick's house, where Hiccup's room would be their bridal chamber until the house was finished. They were being escorted by Stoick, Spitelout, her father, two of her uncles, and an assortment of important citizens of the village. These people were required, by Viking law, to watch them as they consummated their marriage. There could not be any doubt in anyone's mind that the new couple were capable of raising up children to continue their family lines.

Astrid was hoping the earth would open up and swallow her before they got that far, _if_ they got that far.

About halfway there, Hiccup leaned over toward her. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," she whispered back.

"Good," he nodded. "Then brace yourself – it's going to be a wild ride."

He turned to the men who were escorting him. "Guys, would it be okay if I stepped into the bushes for a minute? I have to, you know... it's been a long night, and I drank a bunch of mead, and I'm kind of nervous."

Stoick was displeased. "Why didn't you think of that before we left home?"

"Sorry, Dad. I must have had something else on my mind."

"Fine, but make it quick." Hiccup scurried into a nearby bush. The parade waited until he rejoined them.

They waited some more.

"Somebody go in there and make sure he's okay," Stoick grumbled. Astrid's oldest brother looked into the bush.

"Well?" growled the chief.

"I don't see him," came the reply.

"What do you mean, you don't see him? Hiccup! Where are you? _Answer_ me!" There was no answer.

Suddenly they heard a sound that chilled them to their bones. It was a high-pitched, rising whistle from above them. They all knew that sound, all too well.

"Night Fury!" someone shouted. "Get down!" called another. The entire wedding party threw themselves flat on the ground.

The entire party, that is, except for the bride. She stood straight, her arms out at her sides, tensing up. She heard the innocent-sounding "pfft" noise. A moment later, Hiccup's partially-built house was struck by a blue fireball and burst into flames. That was her cue. She braced herself.

Toothless tried to be gentle, but he was moving so fast that, when he caught her arms with his forelegs, he nearly dislocated her shoulders. Then he performed a remarkable move, one that Hiccup had described for him but which he hadn't been able to practice. He did a snap roll. Half way around, when he was upside-down, he let go of Astrid; she popped up into the air, slowly rotating right-side-up. When she fell, he had finished his roll, and she landed neatly on his back. Hiccup reached back to help her slide toward him, she wrapped her arms around him, and away they flew.

"It's done," he said. "There's no going back. We've destroyed a village building, and we've broken the law about public consummations. We're criminals now."

"As usual," she replied.

"I shudder when I think about what they wanted us to do in front of them," he went on.

"My mother used to tell me stories about princesses who got married," she added, "and they never had to do _that_."

"You got _some_ of the princess treatment, though," he grinned. "Your prince rode to your rescue on his brave steed, saved you from an awful fate, and carried you off to his island castle." He bent down and patted Toothless' neck. "Nice job, bud. You did that roll-toss move perfectly." The dragon rumbled in delight.

They landed quickly behind the Hofferson house. The village was in fire-fighting mode; no one noticed the black dragon on this black night. She ran inside, gathered the two bags of her belongings that she'd prepared that morning, left a note that she hoped would explain things, and climbed back onto Toothless.

They turned their backs on Berk, just as Berk had turned its back on them, and flew out to sea.

She looked back over her shoulder; she could see the glowing remnants of the burning house. "Did you really have to destroy the house?" she asked.

"We needed a diversion," he answered. "I had to get everyone's eyes off of you, so no one could try and stop us. I knew no one would get hurt if we shot that half-a-house."

"Well, it worked," she nodded. She snapped her fingers. "So much for _that_ consummation!"

"You do realize, we're still going to have a wedding night?" he asked, a bit nervously.

"Mm-hmm," she answered, and kissed him on the back of his neck. She felt him tense up. Good. Maybe she was scared half to death about what was going to happen, but at least _he_ was nervous about it too.

They landed at their island an hour later. Hiccup retrieved a lantern he'd hidden outside the cave, and asked Toothless for a spark to light it. He led Astrid inside as Toothless curled up at the entrance.

She'd seen the interior of the cave only once, before he'd done anything to it except remove some cobwebs. Now she stared, open-mouthed, at what he'd accomplished. Most of it was covered in fresh-cut boards, giving her a real floor to walk on; the fresh-water stream flowed beneath the boards until it reached the cave mouth and flowed out. The walls and ceiling were clean, as was the spring that fed the stream. He'd hammered niches into the walls, which held candles of various sizes; he lit them from his lantern. He'd left a part of the stone floor bare, and he'd made a fire pit there out of a ring of stones that wouldn't roll away. Some basic furniture – chairs, a small table, some chests of drawers – was scattered here and there. In a side chamber was his bed, covered in sleeping furs – how had he brought _that_ out here?

"Welcome to your new home, my bride," he smiled. They exchanged a lingering kiss. And then...

And then...

_And then, our story's T rating kicked in. Sorry, you beady-eyed rascals; no lemons for you. The story will resume when they wake up in the morning._


	15. Chapter 15

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 15

Most of the town brushed off Hiccup and Astrid's disappearance with a collective shrug, much like they did when he ran away the first time. The damaged house took less than a day to clean up; there wasn't much there except framing timbers anyway. Gobber complained, loud and long, about his missing apprentice and how Hiccup had left him with an impossible work load, but no one else said much, except for things like "Good riddance to bad garbage. Again."

Stoick spent the next three days with a face so raging red, his friends feared for his health. After everything he'd done to get his son reinstated in the community, that boy had gone and done _this!_ On his wedding day, of all days! Were there any laws he _wouldn't_ break? Did he think he could pull the town's beard like this and get away with it?

Perhaps most importantly, _where_ had he _gone?_

The Hoffersons missed their daughter terribly, of course. She'd left a note explaining that she was a willing participant in what had happened, that they wouldn't be coming back, and that she expected to be happy with her new husband, whom she already loved very much. That took some of the sting out of her sudden disappearance, but not all of it. Surprisingly, they also missed Hiccup. They'd been getting to know him during the engagement period, and he seemed quite different from the way the rest of the village portrayed him.

"At least they made it legal first," Gunnarr said to Edda. "They've brought no shame on us."

"I wish they'd bring _themselves_ back to us," Edda said sadly.

"Me, too," he nodded, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

**o**

Hiccup and Astrid took their sweet time waking up next morning. For the first time since early childhood, there was absolutely _nothing_ they had to do. No chores, no work detail, no schooling or training, nothing.

Even though they had both longed for this, it was still a bit awkward, waking up in the same bed together for the first time, somewhat less than fully dressed. They worked it out the way most newlyweds do. But they had to get up eventually, and eventually, they did.

"Now what?" Astrid wondered as she combed her hair out. He'd never seen her hair except in that tight four-way braid. Her hair was a lot longer than he'd realized. He liked that.

"If you can lay some wood in the fire pit, I'll have Toothless light it, and then I'll take him fishing for our breakfast," Hiccup said lazily. "The coals will be ready by the time we get back. After we eat, we can talk about what happens next."

After a meal of some broiled cod, they carried their plates to the beach and cleaned them off in the ocean. "I'll have to think of an easier way to wash dishes," she said. "This won't work when the storms hit."

"We're going to work out a lot of things as we go along," he nodded. "We're making up our own way of living, right down to the last detail."

"By the way," she smiled, "I thought of a third big no-no we did last night. We skipped out before the presentation of the morning-gift."

"Yeah, we did that," Hiccup yawned. "Do you feel deprived because you didn't get your box of silver and gold coins?"

"No, I don't have much use for coins now. But I thought every bride was supposed to get a morning-gift."

"Mm-hmm," he agreed. "I was thinking about that. If you're ready, let's go for a ride. I'll take you to a place where you can pick out a morning-gift like no Viking queen ever received before."

"That's an intriguing offer," she smiled. "I'm ready." They got Toothless ready to fly, and he took them far away, to the north.

"Where, exactly, are we going?" she asked him.

"It's a surprise," he smiled.

"Can you give me a clue? Or do I have to hit you?"

"Okay, okay!" He pretended to be afraid. "Your clue is, you gave me the idea for this yourself."

Nothing else she could say would get any more information out of him. On they flew. The weather was beginning to look threatening; she hoped they'd land somewhere soon. Finally, a familiar island came into view.

"Hiccup, isn't that the mountain with the dragons' nest inside it?"

"It certainly is," he nodded.

"Why are we here?" she wondered.

"I distinctly recall you saying, 'I thought maybe you could help me train my own dragon some day, and we could all go flying together.' If you're going to be a criminal on the run like me, you'll need to be able to make quick getaways. So we're going to fly in there, you're going to pick out a dragon that you like the looks of, and I'm going to help you train it." She gave him an appreciative hug as they rose to the peak of the cone and spiraled down into the nest.

Toothless landed on a ledge with a good view of the entire nest. It looked very much like it did the first time they were here, except that the oppressive atmosphere of fear was gone. Still, her appreciative hug soon became a case of clinging to him for security.

The cave was still wall-to-wall with dragons of all kinds and colors. Some of them watched Toothless and his passengers with curiosity. The rest were cleaning themselves, feeding their young, or napping. Only a few looked hostile, and those just took up defensive postures; they made no move to attack.

Astrid stared at the scene, open-mouthed. She had never thought of dragons as anything but enemies, except for Toothless, of course. Hiccup seemed completely at ease, even though they were completely surrounded.

"This is just unbelievable!" she finally managed to say.

"I've been here a couple of times, and it's always impressive," he nodded.

"Where do we start?" she asked.

"I guess you'd start by deciding what _kind_ of dragon you'd like to train," he said. "Then we'll look around and find a few of that type, and we'll see if any of them like you."

They heard the rumble of thunder from outside the volcano. Rain began pelting in through the open cone. Their ledge had an overhang that kept them dry, but it sounded like there was quite a storm going on outside.

"I'd say we're going to be stuck here for a while," he observed, "so take your time."

"Okay," she agreed. "Any suggestions?"

"I think it's a personal decision," he said slowly. "Not quite as personal as choosing a husband, but the same kind of thing. I think you can cross the Zipplebacks off your list, since they probably need two riders to control them, and there's only one of you."

"That makes sense." She looked around her.

A Monstrous Nightmare would make a good impression on people, if she ever had to impress anyone. But she'd never fought one in the ring, or done anything at all with one. She didn't know much about them. _That's an awfully big animal to trust with your life if you aren't sure about him,_ she thought.

Perhaps a Gronckle? She probably knew the most about that kind; it was the kind she'd faced most often in the ring. She was sure she could get along with a Gronckle and control it. But Gronckles were slow, and short on endurance. If she meant to go flying alongside Hiccup and Toothless, she needed a dragon that could stay in the air for a while, and put on a burst of speed when needed. And the idea of riding a dragon that might fall asleep in mid-air... No.

How about a Deadly Nadder? She was familiar enough with those. They were smart, they could soar forever, and they could move quickly, both on land and in the air. They could also be vain and demanding. On the other hand, their spines gave them a back-up mode of attack, and their super-hot fire might be useful to a husband who needed to do metalwork without a forge.

"I think I'd like to ride a Deadly Nadder," she decided.

"Good choice," he nodded. "Look around and see if any of the Nadders catch your eye."

She looked. The first thing she noticed was that Nadders came in many colors besides the medium-blue that she was accustomed to. She saw them in aqua, green, magenta, yellow, dark purple, and even one dark-red specimen. Their tail bands came in many different shades as well.

Then she noticed how _many_ of them there were. Nadders were among the most common dragon types, and it showed – this nest, which probably held around a hundred dragons, was home to at least forty Nadders. How could she narrow down such a huge field and choose just one?

She caught motion out of the corner of her eye. Another Nadder – oh, just what she needed – had flown into the nest through the crevice in the side of the volcano. This one was blue, with yellow tail stripes, and it was soaking wet. It landed on a vacant ledge about ninety feet away from them, shook itself dry, and lay down to rest.

"That's not the smartest dragon in the nest," Hiccup commented. "All the others had the sense to stay out of the rain."

"At least it came _in_ out of the rain," Astrid replied. "Wait a second... I think I recognize that one! The color, the stripes... I could swear that's the Nadder I trained against in Dragon Training. We turned them all loose, and I guess they wound up here. I'd like to try that one. I feel like I already know her."

"Astrid, are you _sure_ you want a dragon who thinks it's good to go flying in a thunderstorm?"

"She came in, didn't she? You said I could choose my own morning-gift; I choose that one. If I can't train her, then I'll try a different one."

He shrugged. They climbed back onto Toothless, who flew over to the Nadder's ledge and landed there. The blue dragon rose and watched them suspiciously out of one eye as they dismounted.

"Remember, it's all about trust and respect," Hiccup began. "First, show her that you're not a threat. Keep your hands open, in plain sight. Don't make any sudden moves. Keep your voice smooth and even."

"Okay, Hiccup, I'm doing all those things. What next?"

"Start walking closer to her. Go for the tail end, not the head end. She can defend herself better from the tail, so she'll feel safer with you there."

"Okay," she said, starting to get a little nervous. "How do you know all this?"

"It's all in the Book of Dragons, if you know where to look," he answered. "Keep walking." She did. Suddenly, the dragon's spines snapped upright. Astrid froze in place.

"I think she just recognized you," Hiccup said. "Her tail isn't cocked to strike, so you're in no danger; she's just getting ready in case you turn hostile. Say some nice things to her. That will help calm her down."

"Okay, sure... say nice things to a dragon that's about to kill me," she nodded, and faked a smile. "Hey, there. Do you remember me? I'm the one who tickled you under the chin instead of hitting you. I didn't want to hurt you then, and I don't want to hurt you now. I want us to be friends."

"It's working, Astrid! Her spines are starting to relax. Stroke her tail – be careful not to get scratched by the spines. That should finish the job." Hesitantly, she reached out and stroked the scaly tail. The spines twitched upright, then slowly laid down flat. The dragon craned her neck to keep one eye on Astrid.

"You're there! Now scratch her neck and tell her she's pretty." Astrid didn't need prompting for that; it seemed like the right thing to do. The dragon curled her neck and made a crooning sound, obviously enjoying the touch.

Hiccup turned to Toothless. "What do you think, bud? Did she pick a good one? Will you share our island with another dragon?" Toothless snorted, lay down, and went to sleep.

"I guess he doesn't object," he said. "What _I'd_ like to know is how you're so sure it's a girl dragon. I can't tell the difference."

"It's a girl thing," was all the answer she'd give him. "Maybe I'm wrong, but I just have a feeling. Now I suppose I ought to name her."

"She goes flying in storms, so I'd call her 'Brainless'," Hiccup grinned. "It would go with 'Toothless'."

"I'll hit you for that later," she grinned back, then turned her attention back to the Nadder. "If you _hadn't_ gone flying in the storm, I wouldn't have noticed you, so I'll call you... Stormfly! Do you like that name?" The dragon probably didn't grasp the concept of a name yet, but she was quite happy to let Astrid pet her.

After another two hours or so had passed, the storm moved on. By using gestures, Astrid explained to the dragon that she wanted to ride her. Stormfly bent down and let Astrid climb onto her back. "How do I hang on?" she asked Hiccup.

"For now, just keep your balance. She probably won't let you fall, and if you do, Toothless will catch you. I'll make you a saddle the same way I made one for Toothless – out of scraps and discards from the tannery. I'll pay them a midnight visit in a night or two, and you'll have your saddle before the week is done."

"Could you do it tonight?" she asked.

"Uh-uh," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "I've got some _special_ plans for you and me tonight. I'll be _much_ too tired to go flying after that."

"Pig!" she called.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'husband'," he smiled. "Or did you forget that we're married now?"

"I didn't forget," she answered, a bit embarrassed. "I'm just not used to thinking of you that way."

"We've got the rest of our lives to get it right," he nodded. "Are you ready to see how your new friend can fly?" He jumped into Toothless' saddle, which woke his dragon up.

A minute later, the Haddock dragon team slipped out of the crevice in the side of the volcano, and set out on their homeward-bound flight together. Once Astrid got a "feel" for how to control her dragon, they flew up to the clouds, and she joyously ran her hands through the puffy gray mist.

"Best... morning... gift... _ever!_" she shouted happily.


	16. Chapter 16

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 16

Something was wrong. Hiccup was sure of it now.

They had settled into a comfortable pattern of making and eating breakfast, then spending the rest of their morning training Astrid's dragon and going flying together. Lunch happened whenever they got back from flying. Afternoons were for chores and improving the cave. Supper took place at sunset; then they'd keep working until they decided it was bedtime.

The training sessions usually went smoothly. Stormfly was a quick learner, and Astrid was a surprisingly effective teacher. He suspected she wanted to outdo him in the air. The two dragons seemed to share a friendly rivalry as well.

But for the past three or four mornings, Astrid had interrupted their training sessions to run behind a rock, or down to the shore, or someplace like that. There weren't many places to hide on their little island, but she always found one. She'd come back a few minutes later, slightly pale but otherwise fine, acting like nothing had happened, and they'd continue their training.

This morning, she'd run off again, and he decided maybe it was time to follow her and see what was going on. But Stormfly and Toothless got into one of their rare shoving-matches, and by the time he'd gotten them separated and calmed down, Astrid had returned.

Her face was a bit pale, as usual, but she also showed the signs of a storm building inside. "Hiccup," she said slowly and deliberately, "I... am going... to _kill_ you."

"Will you at least tell me what I did wrong first?" he asked. He wasn't as terrified of her as he might have been a year ago, but he still had a healthy respect for her temper.

"This is the fourth morning in a row that I've gotten sick," she growled.

"That's strange," he said. "It can't be food poisoning – we're eating the same food. Maybe you've got some kind of illness."

"I'm getting _sick_ in the _morning,_ Hiccup!" She was trying to tell him something, that was for sure.

"Just in the morning? That's really strange. I wonder –"

"I'm getting _morning sickness_, Hiccup!"

"Yeah, you just kind of said that, and I'm... uhhh... _oh!_"

Long pause.

"Uh-oh."

She grabbed him by his shirt front. She heartily wished there was a wall she could slam him up against; the best she could do was back him up until he ran into Stormfly's flank. "You've gotten me _pregnant,_ Hiccup! Me, the shieldmaiden! The warrior! The Viking who trained all her life for battle – I'm going to have a _baby!_ _You_ did this to me!"

"I don't recall you putting up much of a –"

"_Shut up!_" she screamed. "Now I'm going to be sick every morning for _months!_ I'm going to be _tired_ all the time! I'm going to be craving weird foods that I can't _get_ on this stupid island! My nice flat belly is going to turn into this bloated _mass_ – I probably won't even be able to ride my dragon anymore! And _then_ I get to go through all the joys of _childbirth!_" Her eyes narrowed. "I'd like to know what _you're_ going to do about it?"

"Uhhh... I guess I should start making a cradle?"

She belted him in the arm. "You better start making your own _coffin,_ Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III! This was _not_ supposed to happen so fast! Ohhh, you and your 'special plans for the night,' _every single night_ for _two months!_ Well, _I'm_ going to make some 'special plans,' and they _won't_ include... oh, _gods,_ how could I have been so _stupid!?_" She threw up her hands and stormed off.

Hiccup moved to follow her. To his surprise, Toothless got in his way, and made a burbling sound that was half-warning.

"Oh, you think you know her better than I do?" The dragon answered with a sad-sounding moan, and refused to get out of his way.

Hiccup sat down hard on a rock. "Fine! I can't win with _her,_ I can't win with _you_... maybe it'll be _good_ to have a baby around here! Maybe I can finally win an argument with somebody!" Toothless snorted, and Stormfly added a chuff of her own. "Yeah, you're right. Babies don't listen to reason, either." He sat and thought for a while.

Then he heard a sound he'd never heard before. Astrid was _crying?_ He got up, and this time, Toothless let him go. He found her leaning against a tree, hiding her face in her hands. He held her and let her cry; she didn't pull away.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup," she finally said. "I don't know what came over me. I'm just... I'm _scared_. We're out here, all by ourselves, and I've never done this before, and there aren't any women for me to talk to about this, and I don't know what I'm doing, and... I'm scared."

He wiped a stray tear off her cheek with his fingertip. "I guess that's normal," he said. "But you asked me what I'm going to do about this, and I actually thought of something."

**o**

There was a knock at the door.

"Who in the world could _that_ be at this time of night?" Edda wondered. Gunnarr hesitantly opened the door.

"Astrid!" "Daddy!" "Astrid, honey!" "Mama!" They pulled her in and slammed the door behind her. More tears were shed, mostly happy ones.

Gunnarr was the first to wonder, "Where's Hiccup?"

"He's up in the air somewhere. He and his dragon are just going to fly around for a few hours, until this visit is over," Astrid explained. "He was worried about what kind of welcome he'd get."

"He _should_ worry," her youngest brother growled, "after the way he kidnapped you! The whole village was out looking for him, and if they'd caught him..." He drew his finger across his throat with a nasty noise.

"He did _not_ kidnap me, you little troll!" she shot back. "I _helped_ him plan it. We both wanted it that way."

"That's what you said in your note, but... we don't understand," her mother wondered, perplexed.

"Mama, he's a good man, but no one can see him as anything but a criminal," she began. "The laws he broke were stupid traditions, not anything important. He's never hurt anyone, he saved the whole _village_ by killing that giant dragon, but no one will accept him! He couldn't live here and be treated that way; I couldn't live with people who did that to him. He's made us a wonderful place to live, we're happy together, it was _his_ idea to bring me back here tonight – he's even helping me train my own dragon!"

"Is that a good thing?" Edda wondered nervously.

"I can see he isn't starving you or mistreating you," Gunnarr added. "And I can see you really care about him." He thought for a second and reached a decision. "If he comes to this house, he will be accepted and welcomed as part of the family." He glared at his two sons. "If _anyone_ says anything to _anybody_ about this, that person will get Mead Hall clean-up duty for the rest of the _year!_" They quailed and said nothing.

"Mama," Astrid said suddenly, "there's... something I need to talk to you about. Woman to woman."

Astrid had never used that phrase with her mother before. Edda did another quick job of putting two and two together, and broke into a smile. "We'll talk upstairs, in your old room. You men-folk, stay down here and mind your own business. I have a feeling this discussion might take a while."

They did as they were told. The discussion did, indeed, take a while – over an hour. They heard nothing, except near the beginning of the conversation, when they heard Edda laugh out loud and shout, "Thor be praised!" Okay, it wasn't bad news, whatever it was. When they finally came downstairs, Astrid looked a lot more relaxed, and Edda was grinning like the cat that ate the cream.

"How long can you stay?" Gunnarr asked.

"We have to go home tonight," Astrid replied. "Hiccup can't risk getting caught. If I can borrow that lantern, I'll make the signal to him, and he'll land and pick me up." He nodded; she took the lantern, stepped outside, and waved it in a circle three times.

About five minutes later, Toothless landed quietly in the front yard. Hiccup was expecting Astrid to run out and join him for the flight home. He wasn't expecting her parents to come out as well. He almost took off again, but Astrid motioned for him to stay.

Gunnarr held out his hand; Hiccup clasped it hesitantly. "Son... I don't understand everything you've done, but I can tell you love my daughter and you're taking good care of her. You'll get a quiet, private welcome any time you stop by."

Edda took his other hand. "You keep on taking good care of her! I understand why you don't want to spend too much time around here, but... come back and visit some time."

"Thank you... thank you both," he said, quite moved. "We'll definitely do that." Astrid gave her father a hug and her mother a kiss on the cheek, then climbed up behind Hiccup. The dark dragon leaped into the sky and carried them away.

"Thank you for thinking of this," she murmured as they winged home. "It made all the difference in the world to me."

"I thought it might," he nodded.

She hugged him extra-tight. "When we get home... if you still have some 'special plans,' I suppose we could work something out. It's not like I've got anything to lose now."

She couldn't see his face, but she could tell he was smiling.

**o**

Back in the Hofferson home, the children had been put to bed. Edda blew out most of the candles and had a quiet conversation with her husband.

The boys heard their father laugh out loud and shout, "Thor be praised!"

For the next seven months (and quite some time after that, actually), anyone who visited Edda Hofferson at home would find her knitting and sewing baby clothes. "For a relative who lives on another island," was all she would say.


	17. Chapter 17

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 17

Astrid and Hiccup made another visit to the Hofferson home about three months later. Hiccup did his best to impress on Toothless the need to stay in the back yard and not wander away, but he wasn't completely sure the message got across. The Night Fury was intelligent and curious; the possibility that he would see or smell something that interested him, and follow it, could not be discounted.

Astrid went to the door first, and was greeted joyously by her family. After a few seconds, she said something in her mother's ear. Edda leaned out the back door. "Hiccup, would you please come in, too?" He came out of the shadows and joined them, a bit nervously. Astrid's younger brothers tried not to stare at his metal leg; they had paid him so little attention when he lived in Berk that they didn't realize his leg wasn't whole. Gunnarr shook his hand and bade him welcome.

They sat around the fire pit, trying to think of something they had in common that they could talk about. Astrid and Edda had such a topic, of course, but the men wouldn't be much interested in discussing pregnancy. Finally, Hiccup resorted to asking how the fish were running in Berk.

"No one knows, of course," Gunnarr replied. That got a puzzled response from Hiccup and Astrid.

"That's right, you wouldn't know about that," Edda said. "Dagur the Deranged has taken over the Berserker tribe. They're demanding a tribute from Berk, and until we pay them, they've blockaded the entire island with their fleet. Our fishing boats can't get out and fish; if they try it, the Berserkers board them and take them away. They wouldn't even let Trader Johann through. Oh, can't we talk about something more pleasant?"

"That seems kind of important," Hiccup replied. "How long has this been going on?"

"About two weeks," Gunnarr said. "The village has eaten most of our stored food – we don't have much left because winter is just ending. When the dried fish are gone, we'll have to start on the sheep, which we hate to do because we need them for wool. Stoick says he won't pay tribute to anyone, and we probably can't afford what Dagur is demanding anyway. No one knows what's going to happen next." That remark brought silence to the group.

Finally, Hiccup spoke. "Astrid, why don't you and your mother go upstairs and talk about woman things? I'd like to speak to your father." The two boys were chased off to bed, and the women went upstairs with a certain measure of relief.

"Sir," Hiccup began, "one thing I'd like to know is, what is my status here in Berk? Are the authorities looking for me, or have they forgotten I exist?"

"The day after the wedding, you were somewhere between Dagur and Alvin on the unpopularity scale," Gunnarr replied. "Your father wouldn't even speak your name; you were just 'that boy' to him. That didn't even last a week, though. About a month later, he told the fishermen he'd pay them for information about where you'd gone. It wasn't a 'wanted, dead or alive' kind of thing; he just wanted to know. Incidentally, wherever you're living, it's quite an achievement that you haven't been found. A few of those fishing skippers really wanted to claim the reward; I got the impression they were doing more searching than fishing."

"All I'll say is, we've got a really nice arrangement where we are, and we'd hate to be chased out of it," Hiccup nodded.

"In any case, there's no overt hostility towards you. That might change if anyone actually saw you, though," his father-in-law said. "Now, I have a question for you. Can you explain to me why you ran away with our daughter?"

"That's a long story," Hiccup sighed. "But I have a feeling the ladies are going to be chatting for a while, so I guess I have time for a long story." He shifted to a more comfortable position on the bench.

It took him almost as long to explain his position as it took Astrid and Edda to bring each other up to date. When he was done, Gunnarr sat silently for a few seconds.

Finally, he nodded. "I don't know what I would have done if I'd been in your position. I never had any problems being seen as useful – I have my skill as a butcher and my talent as an animal doctor, and the whole town knows they need skills like that.

"You're more what I would call a dreamer. You aren't happy with the way things are; it's as natural for you to find better ways to do things, as it is for most Vikings to find lunch when the sun is high. When everything is going smoothly and no one is cold or hungry, then a town like this might have room for a dreamer or two. But if there's any pressure, then everyone focuses on things that are immediate and practical, and dreamers become a luxury that the town can't afford. And let's face it – in a town so cold that the thermometers freeze, there's _always_ some kind of pressure.

"In a different time or place, Hiccup, you'd be hailed as a genius and a hero. But a place like this... just isn't your place. It probably never will be. I can see why you felt like you had to make a place of your own. Are you all right, son?"

"Yes, I... I've got something in my eye, that's all," Hiccup said as he turned away. It was true – he _did_ have something in his eye. Tears. In this one short visit, Gunnarr Hofferson showed that he understood Hiccup better than his own father did.

When he'd regained his composure, Hiccup turned back to face his father-in-law. "Sir, while we're leveling with each other... are you angry that I took your daughter away?"

"Not anymore. I understand your motives," Gunnarr replied. "I'm not as clear about hers. If she'd married someone from another island, she'd be just as far out of our lives as she is now, maybe more so. My main concern is that she is well cared-for and happy, no matter where she is. I can plainly see that you're caring for her well and making her very happy. The fact that you love each other is a nice bonus. I am _very_ pleased that you keep bringing her back for these visits; they mean a lot to Astrid, and they mean the world to Edda."

Their discussion ended when the two women came back downstairs. Astrid yawned. "I hate to go, but we've got a long ride home," she said. They all nodded and said their goodbyes. Fortunately, Toothless had not wandered off, though he was plainly anxious to get back off the ground.

"One more thing, sir?" Hiccup asked Gunnarr. "Would you mind... if I call you 'dad'?"

The bigger man rested a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "I'd like that, son."

As they flew home in the darkness, Astrid murmured, "When we get home, I'm going straight to sleep. I hope you don't mind."

"That's okay. I know you're really tired these days," he said.

The next morning, it was Hiccup who was tired. Astrid had to work to get him awake. "Get up, you lazy Gronckle! What's wrong with you, Hiccup? You're never this slow out of bed. Are you feeling okay?"

"Jus' let me sleep a little longer," he begged.

"Sleep a little longer, and Toothless is going to stick his big scaly head in here, wondering where you are," she mock-scolded. She picked up his clothes from yesterday... and held them to her face and sniffed.

"All right, Hiccup. Start talking."

"Huh?"

"Your clothes have the scent of plasma-blast on them. You and Toothless were up all night doing _something_ – that's why you're so tired – and I am not giving you a moment's peace until you've told me all about it."

Hiccup groaned. "Do you _have_ to be so observant?" He forced himself up into a sitting position on the bed. "We were out shooting Berserker ships, if you must know."

"Go on," she demanded.

"I taught him to shoot the sails and masts," he said. "It forces them to row home for repairs, which should put them out of commission for a week, at the least. I figure, at eight shots a night, we can break the blockade in eight or nine days, and then your family won't be hungry."

"Is that _all_ you were doing last night?" He sleepily nodded 'yes,' then realized that she was giving him The Look, and shook his head 'no.'

"Once Toothless reached his shot limit, we did a little fishing, and we dropped a couple of big ones in the snowbank outside your parents' house. And that really _is_ all we did."

"You took on their entire fleet, all by yourself? You stubborn, stupid, wonderful man! I probably ought to hit you." She gave him a big, affectionate hug instead, encouraged him to lie down again, covered him with the furs, and left him to sleep. He finally awoke to the smell of lunch cooking over the fire; that got him moving.

"Now that you're awake," she began, "you need to help me teach Stormfly how to shoot the sails off a ship."

"That's not happening," he protested. "You're not going into battle in your condition."

"I can still ride Stormfly just fine," she countered, "and if I can ride her, then I can fight with her. The dragon does all the work, remember? Think how much faster we can break that blockade if we hit them with fourteen shots a night instead of eight!"

"Astrid, I know you're thinking like a warrior, but... I'm thinking like a husband and a father. It's natural for me to want to protect my family. Can you understand that?"

"Perfectly," she nodded. "I want to protect _my_ family, too. All of them."

Hiccup gazed at her. He'd fought enough losing battles in his life; he knew he wasn't going to win this one. His eyes kept sweeping back to her belly. "Will you promise me you'll be careful?"

"I'm taking a very important passenger into battle with me," she nodded. "You'd better believe I'll be careful!"

"Okay," he sighed. "This isn't how I'd prefer to do things, but ordering you around never works, so...

"Toothless and I learned a few things last night. He refused to fire a shot into the hull of a ship; I think it's because he knows he'd kill people that way, and he doesn't see the need to kill. Flaming the masts and sails doesn't bother him. I suspect Stormfly is going to play by the same rule. We don't have to sink the ships; if we can force them off the blockade line for seven or eight days, that's just as good for our purposes.

"The second rule is, if a ship is on fire, do _not_ attack another ship right next to it. The flames could give them enough light to see us, and if they can see us, they can throw sharp pointy things at us. We own the night; our dragons see much better in the dark than we do. Any kind of light is our enemy.

"The third rule is, don't take any unnecessary chances. If you don't have a clean shot at your target, pick another target. We've got all night to reach our shot limits, so make every shot count. Any questions?"

"Just one, Hiccup. I'm doing this to protect my family; why are you doing it? You don't owe Berk anything."

Hiccup rested a hand on hers. "The same reason as you, Astrid. I'm protecting my family."

"You mean your father?"

"I mean the family that has adopted me and welcomed me and accepted me..." He blinked hard. "If a few more people treated me the way your parents do, I never would have left Berk." She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.

They took it easy that afternoon and evening, to make sure they wouldn't be too tired that night. The dragons sensed that something was up; Toothless was restless and Stormfly was quite agitated. It was a relief to finally strap themselves in and soar off into the darkness.

"There they are, right below us," Hiccup called. "I'm taking the first shot. One of us will dive, shoot, come back up and meet the other, then the other one will take a turn. We won't collide or shoot each other's targets that way. I'll be back in a minute or two." Toothless banked away before she could say anything.

Far below, she could just make out some darker shapes against the dark sea. Those dark shapes were starving her homeland and her family. She felt no pity for them; if Hiccup was right, then her dragon might be more compassionate than she was. He had done this before, not just last night, but long ago against the Red Death. He was an experienced dragon warrior, probably the only one in the world. She was a warrior, to be sure, but she'd never taken a dragon into battle. That was about to change! She felt a quick shiver of excitement.

She heard the whistle of Toothless' dive; she saw the purple fireball reach out and burst far below; she saw flames flare up. In less than a minute, those flames disappeared. The crew must have cut the burning sail down and thrown it overboard. Without a sail, that ship could no longer hold its position in the blockade line; it would have to row home and get another sail. How many extra sails did the Berserkers have? She was pretty sure they couldn't keep replacing fourteen a day for very long.

"Astrid?" Hiccup's voice was distant.

"I'm up here!" she called back. A couple of seconds later, she dimly saw Toothless pull up next to her.

"Couldn't he see me?" she asked. "I thought he had the best night vision of all of us."

"He could, and he does," Hiccup replied; she couldn't see his face, but his voice sounded like he was smiling again. "I called from a distance so we didn't scare the daylights out of you when we came up behind you in the dark. Are you ready to strike, warrior woman?"

"Just watch me!" she called. "Stormfly, down!" They glided toward the ocean, half a mile below them. She grinned to herself. She was the second Viking, and the first woman, ever to attack her enemies from the air! Then she thought about those ships and what they were doing to her family, and her smile faded. It was with a grim mask of warrior-trained rage that she silently swept out of the sky toward the blockade line.

She picked a ship that looked somewhat bigger than the others, and pointed it out to Stormfly. They flew alongside it until they were ready to flame; otherwise, her dragon might lose the ship in her blind spot. Stormfly turned sharply, angled down, and lit up the night with a spike of white-hot fire! The sail erupted immediately, followed by the mast itself. She pulled up, fiercely exultant. They would throw the burning sail overboard if they could, but with a damaged mast, that ship would be out of action for a lot longer than a week. "That one's for Dad," she said out loud as she rose back to Hiccup's altitude.

She dedicated her second strike to her mother, and numbers three and four to her brothers. Strike number five was for Hiccup, and her final shot was for... what were they going to call the baby? They hadn't made a decision about that yet. It didn't stop her from wrecking her target's ability to sail.

Hiccup finished his eight shots, and they turned for home, tired but triumphant. They'd both sleep late in the morning, for sure. They'd do it again the following night.

That morning, Stoick sent out a ship to scout the situation, as he did every morning since the blockade began. The scouts returned with exciting news – the enemy ships were fewer in number, and had to spread out so they could keep Berk surrounded. The following morning, there were only enough Berserkers left to guard the harbor itself, and the morning after that, the blockading ships were gone.

The town celebrated. Some of them praised Stoick for his firm, confident leadership during the crisis. Dagur the Deranged paid them a not-quite-friendly visit a week later, demanding to know where Berk's dragons were, and growing visibly frustrated when he couldn't find any.

Only a few citizens of Berk suspected the real reason the blockade had failed, and they didn't find out for sure until several months later.


	18. Chapter 18

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 18

"Hiccup! I wasn't expecting you so late! Astrid – are you all right?"

Hiccup helped his wife into the Hoffersons' house. Astrid definitely did not look all right; Hiccup did the talking. "Mama, it's time. I'll keep her comfortable; you need to run and get the midwife."

Edda Hofferson was a sensible woman. This was clearly no time for silly questions. "Gunnarr and the boys are on a fishing trip until tomorrow, so you've got the house to yourselves. Throw some extra wood on the fire to keep her warm. I'll be back in a few minutes." She grabbed a coat and left quickly.

The midwife was baffled. "Edda, no one in this village is even close to her due date! Are you sure?"

"I'm completely sure, Thornella. Please, come with me."

"Can't you even tell me who it is, Edda?"

"Yes. It's someone who's having her first baby, she's nervous, and she doesn't want a lot of attention."

"Fine, fine, I'm coming." Thornella grabbed her bag, put on her coat, and followed Edda back to the Hofferson house. It must be some young relative of Edda's from another village, she decided. The girl must have made a bad decision and kept the consequences secret until they couldn't be hidden any longer, then been sent out of town for the birth to avoid disgrace. Thornella had been in this line of work long enough; she'd seen this kind of thing before.

She entered the home and took in the scene at a glance. The mother-to-be was a teen-age girl, all right, but she looked a _lot_ like Edda, and the young man at her side was clearly no casual lover. They even wore matching wedding rings. This wasn't the usual scenario at all. Well, first things first. "Upstairs or outside with you, young man. You know it's bad luck for a man to be present at a birth!" Hiccup gave his wife a reassuring kiss on the cheek, squeezed her hand, and climbed upstairs. He sat down at the top of the steps and waited.

It was a long, hard wait. He could hear Astrid breathing hard, and sometimes crying out in pain. He felt like the best place for him would be by his wife's side, holding her hand and telling her everything was going to be okay. Common sense told him that his mother-in-law was already doing that, and probably doing a better job of it. Every few minutes, she or the midwife would say, "You're doing fine." Astrid didn't _sound_ like she was doing fine.

About three hours into the process, she shouted, "Hiccup! If you can hear me, you are _never_ laying another finger on me _again!_" He decided it might be best not to answer.

He had no idea how long this was supposed to take. He guessed that she'd endured a few hours of initial pains before she woke him around midnight and admitted that her labor had started. He'd suggested that Berk's midwife might be better qualified to help her than he would, and she didn't argue. Toothless got them back to Berk in record time, but it still took almost an hour. He'd been waiting at the top of these stairs for hours, and it didn't sound like anything had changed downstairs. He toyed with the idea of pacing back and forth, but his metal leg would be too noisy and distracting. He forced himself to sit still and wait, fighting off sleep.

The sun was well above the horizon when events finally reached a crescendo. Astrid's cries were so distressing, he covered his ears – he couldn't bear to listen. Was something wrong? How long could this go on?

And then, suddenly, it stopped.

Hiccup uncovered his ears and strained to hear something, _anything_. He heard a tiny cry that soon faded out. He could tell the women were saying something, but they were so quiet, he couldn't tell what.

At last, Edda called, "Hiccup, you can come down." In his excitement, he forgot about his leg and nearly tumbled face-first down the stairs. He caught himself against the wall and made a less dramatic, but more controlled, entrance.

Astrid was sitting up in the bed, looking exhausted but happy. In her lap was a tiny cloth-wrapped bundle, with an even tinier red face sticking out. The midwife stood on one side of her and Edda on the other, both smiling broadly. He felt like he was entering some kind of sacred place.

"Well, come on!" Edda encouraged him. "Get over here and greet your new son!"

"A son," he said to himself. Considering all the nervous energy he'd bottled up over the past nine hours, he would have expected himself to run like mad, but moving slowly seemed like the right thing to do.

He sat down on the bed next to Astrid and rested a hand on hers. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"Tired," she answered, with a small smile. He turned his attention to the tiny human being in her lap.

"You do good work," he said.

"Would you like to hold him?" she asked.

At that precise instant, the reality of the situation hit him. This wasn't just a baby. This was _his_ baby. He had just become a _father_. He'd seen his own dad struggle badly with fatherhood, and now it was _his_ turn.

His vision went blurry, but he blinked and forced himself to focus. "Uhhh, what do I do?" he stammered.

"Hold your arms like this." She showed him; he copied her, somewhat stiffly. She laid the little bundle in his arms. He stared down at his son, and his face was overtaken by a smile of total wonder. Astrid hadn't seen that look on his face since their wedding day.

The midwife also smiled. "I can always tell, in the first five seconds, which ones will be the good fathers. He's going to be excellent."

"What are you going to name him?" Edda asked. "Will he be Hiccup Horrendous Haddock IV?"

"We had a long talk about that," Hiccup said, without taking his eyes off the baby's face. "My family has always followed the Berk tradition of scary names. Your family is one of the few that's stayed with traditional Norse names. Since we're seeing a lot more of your family, we agreed to honor _your_ tradition. Our firstborn would be named for one of Gunnarr's parents, our second will be named for one of your parents, and if we have a son after that, he'll be Hiccup IV.

"My firstborn son's name is Erik," he said with finality. Astrid nodded happily.

Edda was clearly moved. "Erik. That's a good name. He was a good man. May I hold my first grandchild?" Hiccup nodded, a bit reluctantly, and let her take the baby.

The midwife began gathering her things. "There weren't any complications, and she's young and strong," she told him. "If you can, let her have a few days of bed-rest before you put her back to work."

"I think we can manage that," he said, with a wink at his wife. The idea of him "putting her to work" was laughable. She worked at least as hard on their cave as he did, but it wasn't because he told her to. The midwife left, tired but with a bit of a spring in her step. She always liked births with no complications, physical or social.

Hiccup turned back to Astrid. "You know you can rest as long as you need to," he told her. "They aren't going to throw us out of here too quickly, if I know your mother." He glanced at Edda, who was happily pacing around the house, singing a little song to the baby. "He kept his eyes closed when I was holding him. Did you see what color his eyes are?"

"Green," she sighed. "Just like yours. It looks like he'll have my hair."

"Excellent," he nodded, brushing her bangs back out of her eyes. "It sounds like he's got the best from each of us. If he fights like you and thinks like me, he could be the ultimate Viking."

"It might be a while before he does any of those things," she smiled.

"Oh, I don't know about that," he grinned back. "It looks like he's starting to conquer Berk already, or at least one house in Berk. The lady of the house is completely under his spell." He started to say more, but her eyelids were drooping. He adjusted the cushions that were propping her up, made sure the furs covered her, and lay next to her until she fell asleep.

A little while later, he and Edda slipped out into the back yard. Toothless had been napping, but he sat up alertly when he saw Hiccup.

"Hey, bud! I brought you someone I'd like you to meet." He held out the tiny bundle.

Toothless glanced at the baby for a moment, then returned his attention to Hiccup. Then a puzzled look crossed his features. He bent down and sniffed at Erik several times. He sniffed Hiccup, then the baby again. He gave Hiccup a quizzical look, and let out a quivering rumble.

"Yup, that's a little 'me'," Hiccup nodded. "He's a little Astrid, too, and he's going to turn our little island upside down. His name is Erik. You'll need to help us take good care of him, okay?" Toothless growled and warbled; he wasn't quite sure about this. Edda was even less sure about the frightening-looking black dragon; she kept her distance, but made sure she could keep an eye on the baby at all times.

Once that introduction was made, they returned to the house to await Gunnarr and the boys. They showed up just before lunch time, ending Astrid's nap. "Welcome home, fisherman," Edda greeted her husband at the door. "Guess what?" She stepped aside, and gestured at Hiccup and Astrid with the tiny bundle in her arms. Gunnarr went wide-eyed and dropped his fishing pole with a clatter.

Edda smiled broadly. "We caught one while you were away. Do you think he's big enough to keep, or should we throw him back?"

Astrid's brothers were more excited about the fish they'd caught than babies, but her father couldn't wait to check out his first grandson. He reluctantly gave him back to Astrid so he could go with his family to the Mead Hall for lunch. They brought back food for the new parents, and some fish big enough for Hiccup to feed to Toothless.

They spent part of the afternoon sitting around the bed where Astrid was resting, regaling Hiccup (and embarrassing Astrid somewhat) with family stories. Those stories ended when there was a heavy knock on the door. Gunnarr opened it, and found Stoick the Vast glaring back at him, his massive frame blocking the entire doorway, backed by two more big Vikings.

"I am looking for a criminal," the chief growled slowly.

"I don't think there's anyone here who is guilty of a crime," Gunnarr replied.

"I'm looking for a criminal who rides a Night Fury," Stoick went on. "A Night Fury that just _happens_ to be lurking in _your_ back yard! Stand aside, Gunnarr." Mr. Hofferson reluctantly did so. Stoick strode in and fastened his eyes on Hiccup, who was sitting next to Astrid on the bed. His face darkened.

"_You_ are wanted for destruction of village property, and violation of Viking family law," he rumbled. Then he glanced at Astrid. "_You_ are wanted for aiding a criminal. Will you come peacefully, or do my assistants have to drag you away?"

"Are you going to put your grandson under arrest as well, Stoick?" Edda demanded.

The chief froze in place. "My what?" He looked back at Astrid. It suddenly registered with him that she was holding a very small baby.

"Dad," Hiccup slowly quavered, "this is Erik, son of Hiccup. He was born this morning. He's your grandson."

Stoick just stood there. The anger drained away from his face, leaving a blank expression. At last, he turned to the door and spoke to the two Vikings who were waiting outside. "You can go. I'll handle this." They left, glad to get away from what looked like an awkward situation. Gunnarr quickly but quietly closed the door.

Stoick had the same reaction Hiccup had had – he walked slowly, even though he could easily have moved a lot faster. He knelt beside the bed to take a closer look at the tiny baby. His blank expression turned into something that, for him, was almost tender.

"A grandson?" He seemed to be struggling to accept the idea. "Hiccup, why didn't you _tell_ me?"

"I don't know, Dad. I thought maybe you'd put me under arrest?" Stoick glanced sharply at his son, then returned his gaze to the baby.

Gunnarr cleared his throat. "Stoick, I have invited my daughter and my son-in-law into my home, and offered them hospitality and protection. If you want to arrest them and take them away, you'll have to arrest me, too."

Edda stood beside her husband. "You're the chief! You can pardon people for minor crimes, can't you?"

Stoick glanced at her, then back to the baby. "I can pardon anyone except my own son. That would look like I was playing favorites, and a chief can _never_ do that. No one would have confidence in my fairness after that. It would require a town-council meeting to get a pardon for him."

"Then pardon Astrid!" Hiccup burst out. "At least she could visit her own family without fear. She needs that, and so do they. As long as I'm still on your list, no one can accuse you of favoritism." He paused to take a breath. "I'm kind of used to being a wanted man anyway."

"I never knew a wanted man who was so _un_wanted." Astrid sounded bitter; even Stoick couldn't miss her tone.

He looked steadily at his son. With Stoick kneeling on the floor, and Hiccup sitting on the bed, they were almost eye-to-eye. "Son... why can't you just live like a Viking, and do what Vikings do? Is it so hard?" He sounded sad, not angry.

"That's not who I am, Dad," Hiccup replied. "I see an old, useless tradition and I have to just... _kill_ it!"

Stoick shook his head and sighed. His gaze kept returning to that tiny baby. When he spoke, it was calmly and slowly, with none of the usual Stoick bluster.

"Gunnarr, Edda, you are my witnesses. As chief of the island of Berk, I am officially pardoning Astrid, wife of Hiccup, for any and all crimes she may have committed up until this day." They nodded. Astrid didn't respond, except to look at her husband.

"Hiccup... I'm sorry, but you have to face justice. Do you want a hearing, or will you accept my summary judgment?"

Something in Stoick's tone made Hiccup think this might not be as hostile a confrontation as the words suggested. "I'll waive my right to a hearing, Dad. But may I remind you that the whole point of the public consummation was to prove that we're able to produce children?" He gestured at little Erik, who yawned. "I think we've answered that question."

"Point taken, but the law is the law," Stoick nodded. "My summary judgment for the laws you broke, is that you shall be banished from the island of Berk, until such time as you can convince the chief that you're ready to walk like us, talk like us, _think_ like us." Stoick looked back to the baby. "The banishment will take effect one week from today. Next time, try not to be so easy to catch, son. Do a better job of hiding that dragon, for a start. And... _please,_ keep me posted on this young fellow.

"He might very well be my successor some day, as the chief of this tribe."

He took one more look at the baby, rose, and left the house without another word.


	19. Chapter 19

**Did Anybody See That?** Chapter 19

"Land, Captain! I saw some kind of land off the port bow!"

The captain put the helm over. "You'd better be right, Wartplanter! Row, all of you! If we miss this island, we're finished!"

The captain and crew were on their last legs. Four days ago, their fishing boat had been caught in a violent storm. They lost their mast and sail in the first ten minutes. Since then, the storm had blown them uncounted miles in unknown directions, and then blown out, leaving them in a fast-moving current with no sail, no food, and no idea where they were or which way they should try to go. They'd used the last of their drinking water yesterday. The land that Wartplanter had seen in the dark was their only hope of survival.

As the horizon lightened, they saw that they were approaching some kind of island. It had trees; that meant it had fresh water. They would live! They spent the last of their strength circling the little island, trying to find a place to land on the rocky shore. At last, they found a small cove with a tiny beach. They heaved until the bow crunched against the sand. They were safe.

They climbed out of the boat and collapsed on the sand. They lay there for several minutes, too tired after their ordeal to move.

"We need to find water," Wartplanter finally said.

"We need to offer a sacrifice to the gods, for saving us," the captain replied.

"It would be polite to get permission to land first," came an unfamiliar voice.

They all looked up. About thirty feet away stood a thin young man with an artificial leg, holding a three-month-old baby. Next to him stood an attractive young woman holding a double-bladed axe, and holding it like she knew how to use it. Behind them stood two fearsome-looking dragons, one black, one blue. The sailors froze. This was _not_ the kind of welcoming committee they were expecting.

The young man went on. "I can see by your ship that you're sailors in distress. We don't want to be unkind, and we'll share what we have with you. The problem is that you know where we are. That's a secret we've been trying to keep."

"What are you, some kind of outcasts?" the first mate asked nervously.

"No, I got sentenced to Outcast Island for my _first_ crime," the young man said with a trace of a smile. "I got pardoned for that one. Now I'm just under banishment. I'm not a violent criminal, although my dragon can get nasty if you make a move he doesn't like." The black dragon bared its teeth and snarled at that. "I'm also protective of my family, although, to be honest, part of my family can take pretty good care of _me_." He put his free arm on the woman's shoulder.

"We mean you no harm," the captain began. "I'm Captain Stintmore of the formerly-good ship _Lollapalooza_." He introduced his first mate and his three sailors.

"My name is Hiccup," the young man answered. "This is my wife, Astrid, and my son, Erik. Welcome to Hadderson Island. Our dragons are going to keep a close eye on you until we're sure you can be trusted. Please stay together; if you go in separate directions, you're harder to watch, and that makes us nervous. Deal?"

"We have no choice but to accept," the captain nodded. "We desperately need drinking water."

"We have plenty of that," Hiccup said. "Follow us, please." He and his wife turned and led the way up the island's one hill. The dragons waited until the nervous sailors passed them, then took up a rear-guard position.

They crossed the top of the hill and went down the other side until they came to a small stream. "Drink your fill," Hiccup said, waving at the stream with his hand. They fell on their knees and drank. The water was cold, sweet, and delicious, but they would have filled themselves on it even if it tasted like bilge water.

"We don't have much food to offer you at this moment," he continued. "We live on the fish that our dragons catch for us, meal by meal. We have a few fish dried and set aside for emergencies, but if you're as hungry as you are thirsty, you'd eat them all and leave us with nothing. That puts me in a bit of a bind."

"If you can help us with a mast and a sail, we'll leave you, and get food when we're safely back in Berk," the captain said. He noticed the wife's expression change when he mentioned Berk; he filed that away for possible future use. "You've got some straight trees here that would make good masts."

"Not happening," Hiccup said with a shake of his head. "This little island doesn't have many trees. We cut them down only in emergencies, and your ship isn't an emergency to us. We even bring our firewood from the mainland. Maybe we could fly a couple of you there, let you cut and trim a tree, then bring it back here."

"Fly us?" the first mate quavered. "You mean, we'd ride on those _dragons?_" The other sailors clearly weren't enamored of that idea, either.

Astrid whispered quickly in her husband's ear. "You sit here and wait, please; the dragons will keep you company," he said. "We have to talk this over. Toothless, Stormfly, guard these men!" The dragons sat down and glared at the sailors as the young man and woman stepped away.

They came back about fifteen minutes later. "We can offer you two choices," Hiccup said. "As the ship's captain, it's your decision to make.

"Choice number one: as we said, we can fly a couple of you to the mainland, where you can cut a new mast and yardarm for yourselves. We'd fly them back here. Then we'd fly two of you back to Berk, where you'd pull a used sail out of the sail-loft building. We'd leave the two sailors there and bring back the sail, where the other three of you would mount it and sail home.

"With all that flying, it would take several days to finish the project. We can use only one of our dragons at a time, because one of them has to stay here and keep an eye on the rest of you. And we would require every one of you to swear an oath never to reveal our location to anyone."

"What's our other option?" the captain asked.

Astrid answered that one. "We fly all five of you home on the dragons, and you leave your ship here. You don't need to swear any oaths because, the way we'll fly, you'll never be able to retrace your course."

"What do you want with our ship?" Wartplanter wanted to know.

"We don't actually _want_ it, but since you'd have to leave it behind, we'd make use of it," Hiccup answered. "I'd use the boards and timbers to help build a cottage by the water, so we aren't cooped up in the cave when the weather is good. The iron nails and fittings would be even more useful to me; I can use dragon fire to melt them and form them into anything I want."

"Well, I'm not swearing any oaths," the first mate decided. "Captain, don't you know who these people are? They're the ones the chief is looking for! He offered two hundred silver marks to anyone who can tell where they are, and I can use that kind of money!"

"Afraid not," Astrid replied. "We need our privacy more than you need the money. No matter what your captain decides, _you're_ going directly to Berk, do not pass 'Go,' do not collect two hundred marks."

The captain sighed deeply. "I'm kind of fond of that leaky old ship," he said heavily. "She's brought us through many a storm and high wind. But now that my big-mouthed first mate has spilled the beans, I know all my sailors will try to claim that reward if they can. I get the notion you don't want that. I guess we'll all have to go home by air. You islanders just got yourselves a ship."

"You'll stay here until nightfall," Hiccup decided. "We'll feed you the same meals we eat ourselves; our dragons can bring back some extra fish for you. After it's dark, we'll load you up, two on my dragon and three on hers, and you'll be home before sunrise. Feel free to claim any personal belongings from your ship, and you may wander around the island if you want to. Is there anything else you need while you're here with us?"

Everyone shook their heads except Wartplanter. "I'm curious to see how the two of you live," he said.

"The three of us," Astrid corrected him. "Speaking of which, I need to go feed Erik. My husband can show you where we live." She found a discreet place to feed the baby, who was beginning to fuss. Hiccup gestured with his head for Wartplanter to follow him back up the hill.

"This is pretty impressive," the sailor commented as he looked around the cave. "I wouldn't mind retiring to a place like this."

"We're low on luxuries, but we have all the basics," Hiccup nodded. "We can't make everything ourselves, but we've done some trading with a village far to the north for things like candles and boots. We're quite comfortable here. That's why we don't want anyone else to know where we are. We'd hate to be chased out of here; I doubt we'd ever find a similar place."

Back outside the cave, Wartplanter scanned the horizon. There was no other land in sight, not even a tiny islet. This place could be _very_ difficult to find by accident. If these islanders wanted to be left alone, they'd chosen a near-perfect place to do it.

The sailors watched from the cliffs as the two dragons repeatedly dove at the sea and came up with some fine fish to eat. Hiccup supervised the cooking, while Astrid dried and salted the extra fish for another day. Between lunch and supper, the afternoon passed slowly and awkwardly. The sailors felt like prisoners, but they understood that their hosts had little choice in the matter. Neither group had much to say to the other.

As the sun disappeared into the sea, Hiccup and Astrid saddled their dragons. "The captain and first mate ride with me," Hiccup said. "The other three ride on Astrid's dragon."

"Three of them, with one woman?" the captain wondered. "Aren't you worried they'll try to take over, or something?"

"Nope. The instant Stormfly hears me cry out, or feels me do anything unusual, she'll buck off all her passengers, then dive and catch me," Astrid told them. "It's not like riding a horse."

"She's warned you," the captain admonished his crew. "Don't try anything. We just want to get home in one piece." They all climbed aboard; Astrid carried Erik in a sling.

The flight to Berk was uneventful... for the dragon trainers. For the sailors, it was mostly low-key fear, mixed with moments of hard-core panic. The dragons changed course every few minutes, and did some complete spins to throw off their passengers' sense of direction. The overcast kept them from seeing the stars, so they truly had no idea where they'd been or how they got home from there.

At last, they touched down on the cliffs of Berk. A couple of the sailors were seen to fall on their hands and knees and kiss the ground before they ran off to their homes and families. The captain remained behind.

"I want to thank you both for your kindness to me and my crew," he said. "You didn't ask us to join you, and I can understand your position. Still, if I had to be shipwrecked again, I'd rather do it on your island than anyplace else I can think of. We certainly ate better on your island than we ever did at sea."

"Thank you, captain," Hiccup nodded. "We appreciate that you agreed to keep our location private." He waited until the old salt was well out of sight, then turned to his wife. "Our dragons are probably tired from hauling all those passengers. Do you think your parents would mind us spending the night? I can hide the dragons in the cove, and then walk back."

"Good idea," she nodded. They flew over to the Hofferson home, where Astrid and Erik received their usual ecstatic welcome. Hiccup and Toothless, with Stormfly following, flew out to their cove. It took Hiccup over an hour to walk back in the dark. Everyone agreed it would be best to get some sleep, and spend time together in the morning.

That time together was interrupted by a polite knock at the door. Edda answered it. It was Stoick, accompanied by Spitelout. "Mrs. Hofferson, may we come in? This is a legal matter."

Hiccup went pale. He'd been caught violating his banishment. They could send him to Outcast Island for that. Astrid passed the baby to him. That could mean only one thing: she wanted her hands free in case she had to fight for him. He saw her scanning the walls in search of a weapon.

Stoick ducked his head to get into the house, followed by his second-in-command. He greeted Gunnarr and Astrid, said hello to Erik, then faced Hiccup.

"I've received some interesting reports about that Berserker blockade," he began. "Several witnesses have told me they saw streaks of white light, and purple sparks, along with ships burning, several nights in a row. Would I be right in guessing that we should thank you and your dragons for breaking that blockade for us?" Hiccup and Astrid both nodded, somewhat embarrassed.

"Interesting," the chief continued. "Hiccup, the first time you broke the law, you got out of it by the law of restitution – you killed a bigger dragon than the one you let escape. It appears that you've done it again – you got in trouble for burning a partial house, but you've paid us back by burning something of much greater value, namely, a fleet of Berserker warships. You can thank your father-in-law for bringing that to my attention. I've also just gotten a good report from Captain Stintmore about how you treated him and his crew when they were stranded on your island.

"Spitelout, Gunnarr, you were present at our meeting a few nights ago; you are my witnesses. Hiccup, the village council has decided to offer you a full pardon for any and all crimes you've committed up until now." Astrid and Edda heaved a sigh of relief; Gunnarr shook his son-in-law's hand warmly. Stoick nodded at Spitelout, who turned and left.

When it was Stoick's turn to shake Hiccup's hand, the young man asked, "One question, Dad. How did you know I was here? We did a better job of hiding the dragons this time."

"You did," the chief smiled, "but I've learned that the Hoffersons don't burn their lights late at night unless they have visitors. I always know when visitors come to my village, so when their candles are lit when it's late and I don't know why, it can only be for one reason."

"We'll have to find ways to be less predictable," Gunnarr decided.

"Does this mean you'll be coming home soon?" Stoick asked eagerly.

Hiccup took a quick glance at Astrid, then shook his head. "No, Dad, I don't think that would be a good idea.

"For one thing, it's just a matter of time before I find another law to break, and I can't count on another technicality to get me off the hook. For another thing, no one except the Hoffersons and you really misses me here. Everyone else will view me as a pardoned criminal and nothing else. I'd never feel at home with neighbors who think like that. I've already tried it once; it didn't work.

"We've got a place of our own that suits us, and we're really happy there. If there aren't any limits on me visiting, then yes, we'll visit more often. We need a better place to trade for the things we can't make ourselves, and I'd like to buy some chickens, and a bag of grain now and then to feed them. Someday, Erik will need kids his own age to play with. And, of course, Astrid really needs to stay in touch with her family.

"We'll be in frequent contact, but this can never be my home again. I appreciate the thought, Dad, but... I'm just too different. I've found a place where I fit in, and Berk isn't that place."

"That's not quite true," Astrid corrected him. "You've _made_ a place where you fit in."

Stoick was clearly disappointed. "But that means you can never be the chief after me. I had hoped to retire some day and hand the tribe off to you, son."

"I can't say what the future holds, Dad. The day may come when I want to come back and live here. But today, there aren't enough reasons for me to stay."

"I have to respect that," the big man nodded slowly. "You're a free man, a husband and a father, and I might even call you the master of your own place, wherever it is. To be honest, I'd rather see you once every few months, and know you're happy and staying out of trouble, than to see you every day and wonder if this was the day I'd have to send you away forever.

"I can see now that you aren't going to change to fit in with my world. You'll never be who I wanted you to be. But you're very good at being yourself, and you're also good at changing the world around you so _it_ fits with _you_. You won't live my dream, but you're doing well at living your own dream.

"I guess that's what they call 'being a man.' I'm proud of you, son."

Hiccup pulled his wife and son close, and swallowed hard.

"Thanks, Dad. That means a lot to me. I'm glad I have your approval, but do you know what? I'm past the point where I desperately needed that approval. I'm not 'Hiccup the Useless' any more. I'm Hiccup, the chief of Hadderson Island – we're a small tribe, but we're growing, and we've even started our own dragons' nest. My wife is happy, my son is healthy, and I've made a life that's great for me. I _know_ I'm doing what's best, and it doesn't matter if anyone else is for me or against me. Even you, Dad."

Stoick nodded and smiled. "In that case, there's no 'guess' about it. You _are_ a man!"

_THE END  
(I mean it this time!)_


End file.
